Bestia: Italian Recipes Created in the Heart of L.A. by Ori Menashe, Genevieve Gergis and Lesley Suter is the debut cookbook from LA's phenomenally popular Bestia restaurant. Both restaurant and book feature rustic Italian food with Middle Eastern influences, crafted with intense flavors, house-made charcuterie, pizza and pasta from scratch, along with innovative desserts inspired by home-baked classics.

 

Photographs capture the vibrancy of the dishes which are both approachable and sophisticated, a mix that will please the experienced cook as well as the novice. Step-by-step process photos accompany certain of the pasta recipes and I am quite taken with the chapter on charcuterie, something which I have always wanted to tackle. The pizza, pasta, sides, and main dish chapters are equally spectacular with a variety of oils and sauces to level up any recipe. But wait, there is more - the desserts! Butterscotch-coconut tart, Apple cider donuts, Chestnut zeppole and many other treats await you here. Zeppole is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.

This book made my Best Books of 2018 list as it is the perfect package: beautiful photographs, approachable yet refined recipes and Italian food!  Our  takes you inside this beautiful title and features the following 

 

Special thanks to the publisher, Ten Speed Press, who provided us with the materials for our EYBDigital preview above as well as three copies of this book in our giveaway below. 

 

The publisher is offering three copies of this book to EYB Members in the US. One of the entry options is to answer the following question in the comments section of this blog post.

Which recipe in the index would you try first?

Please note that you must be logged into the Rafflecopter contest before posting or your entry won't be counted. For more information on this process, please see our step-by-step help post and this forum post. Once you log in and enter your member name you will be directed to the next entry option - the blog comment. After that, there are additional options that you can complete for more entries.

Be sure to check your spam filters to receive our email notifications. Prizes can take up to 6 weeks to arrive from the publishers. If you are not already a Member, you can join at no cost. The contest ends at midnight on March 24th, 2019.