seafood pasta

Mixed Pasta with Basil Pesto and Tuna
Mixed Pasta with Basil Pesto and Tuna

Mixed Pasta with Basil Pesto and Tuna excerpted from Eat Like a Sardinian: Live to 100 by Francesco Mattana. Photography © Dave Brown 2026.

Eat Like a Sardinian: Live to 100 by Francesco Mattana

“More than just a cookbook – it’s a love letter to Sardinia” – Jamie Oliver

An exciting debut cookbook from a rising star in the world of Italian cooking!

Sardinia captures the true spirit of Mediterranean cooking. Here, you find a way of life filled with simple, fresh, seasonal ingredients, healthy fats and plenty of time spent cooking, eating and spending time with loved ones. Sardinia is, after all, one of only five designated “blue zones” in the world – where people live longer than anywhere else.

In Eat Like a Sardinian, chef Francesco Mattana invites you to discover the rich and varied food culture of the island, bringing together his experiences learning to cook from the women around him and years of teaching at Jamie Oliver’s Cookery School to create authentic, delicious home cooking recipes that everyone can master, with all the tips and tricks needed to get them right every time. Find the perfect small bite for your aperitivo hour, stock up your pantry with preserves, perfect your pasta and bread-making skills, learn how to entertain the Sardinian way with impressive fish, meat and vegetable dishes and finish it all off with a traditional dolci. Who knew healthy living could be so sweet?

Recipes include Francesco’s viral spaghetti al pomodoro, Italian lemon tart, roasted lamb with artichokes and potatoes, bruschetta with figs, and the “live to 100” minestrone.

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Spicy Lobster Linguini
Spicy Lobster Linguini

Spicy Lobster Linguini, Venetian Republic by Nino Zoccali. Copyright © 2020. Photographs by Alan Benson.

Venetian RepublicThe food of the Venetian Republic is diverse: prosecco & snapper risotto, Croatian roast lamb shoulder with olive oil potatoes, the sweet & sour red mullet of Crete, zabaglione from Corfu, or Dubrovnik’s ricotta & rose liqueur crepes.

These are recipes steeped in history; dishes from the days when Venice was a world power. How did this small city-state rule the waters of the Mediterranean, enjoying unrivalled wealth and prestige? How could this serene, safe-haven city of canals come to play a defining role in shaping the cuisine, culture, and architecture of her Mediterranean neighbours? Yet, for a thousand years, the ships and merchants of the Republic dominated salt, silk, and spice trade routes.

To tell this story, respected writer and restaurateur Nino Zoccali focuses on the four key regions that geographically encapsulate the Venetian Republic, each of which has its own distinct cuisine: Venice and its lagoon islands; the Veneto, of which Venice is the capital; the Croatian coast and the Greek Islands formerly under Venetian rule. The 80 dishes he has selected all have strong traditional Venetian roots or influence, celebrating ingredients and techniques that show how, to this day, food in this magnificent region continues to be influenced by neighbouring cultures.

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