The Italian expression “facciamo una spaghettata!” literally means “Let’s do a spaghetti dinner!” But it captures something bigger: the joy of gathering around a simple meal made with whatever you have on hand. Inspired by this casual, welcoming approach to cooking, Spaghettata offers satisfying dishes for busy weeknights, relaxed dinners with friends, and everything in between.
Recipes are scaled to serve two or four people and include riffs, variations, and swaps that make it easy to cook from your pantry and adapt dishes to your tastes. From fresh vegetables to quick pastas and simple desserts, this gorgeous collection includes:
Organized by staple ingredients—including pasta, bread, rice and grains, eggs, beans, and sweets—this inviting cookbook brings the warmth, flexibility, and everyday pleasure of Italian cooking and the casual ease of the Italian lifestyle into any kitchen.
Sheela Prakash is a food writer, a recipe developer, and the author of two cookbooks, Salad Seasons and Mediterranean Every Day. She was an editor at The Kitchn for eight years, honing her clear, service-oriented recipe style, and prior to that, worked at Epicurious and Food52. She is a contributor to New York Times Cooking and publishes recipes in Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, and beyond. She received her master’s degree in Food Culture & Communications at the Slow Food–founded Università degli Studi di Scienze Gastronomiche in Bra, Italy, holds Level 2 and Level 3 Awards in Wines from the Wine & Spirits Education Trust, and speaks Italian.