Celebrate the soul of Italian home cooking. The Italians call it l’arte dell’arrangiarsi—the art of making do with what you’ve got. They’ve been cooking this way for centuries, a unique approach to ingredients and techniques known as cucina povera, or peasant cooking, that results in the highest expression of what Italian food is all about—transforming simple components into unforgettably delicious and satisfying meals. It’s also a way of cooking that, with some notable exceptions like minestrone, ribollita, and pasta e fagioli, is barely known outside of Italy. Author Giulia Scarpaleggia is all set to change that. She’s a Tuscan home cook, food writer, and cooking teacher who is writing both to elevate the cucina povera of her native country and to honor the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the strong Italian women who came before her.