FRANCESCA’S ITALIAN KITCHEN

Francesca Voza and James Stapley, Penguin, $50, 240 pages, paperback

This spin-off from the trio of Francesca’s Italian restaurants in Wanaka, Dunedin and Christchurch has home-cook friendly pastas, pizzas, antipasti, mains, dolci and cocktails. Chefs’ tips, step-by-step guides (for example, for cannoli and gnocchi) and a chapter on basics add to its usefulness. Buy it for someone who loves cooking Italian or simply wants to turn out really good pizzas from their wood-fired oven.