We've been contemplating the menu for our annual New Year's Eve dinner, and were considering an Italian meal as a theme. The holiday guest list is problematical, given that one friend is vegetarian and we're mostly-paleo. As a result, when I was last zooming through the library, I grabbed this cookbook, thinking that it might present some solutions....Nope. I haven't been this disappointed by a cookbook in a long time.It's not that it's terrible. Certainly, I don't think any of the recipes will poison you. But many of them are obvious, of the "Did I need a recipe for this?!" dishes, such as broccoli au gratin (broccoli; breadcrumbs; Taleggio cheese; olive oil). The herbs and spices are minimal; a recipe might include basil or oregano, but always with a too-light hand. For example, a recipe for "bruschetta with asparagus and cherry tomatoes" serves 4-6, and it calls for a single clove of garlic; no herbs at all.There are a few recipes that sound okay, but I'm not motivated to try them. "Baked pumpkin with marinated herbs and Gorgonzola" is a good flavor combination (note that "marinated herbs" is 2 sprigs of rosemary in olive oil). "Pear and ricotta cups" (soak raisins in Marsala; poach 3 pears in honey and orange juice; mix with ricotta) could work well. And baked eggplant is... well, you had me at eggplant; throw some pecorino and a handful of sun-dried tomatoes on top, and call it a recipe.But that's about it. There's a lot of pasta, none of it that you haven't seen elsewhere (such as baked penne with cheese and zucchini, or pasta with peas and asparagus). The author tried to work in a few exotic ingredients such as seitan and tofu... which might be fine, I suppose, but that isn't why I'd want THIS cookbook.There are so many options for both vegetarian and Italian cooking... I'm sure you can do better than this cookbook.