For those of you who weren’t lucky enough to grow up with an Italian nonna who had a closet you were jealous of, who dragged you to mass on Sundays, and who heaped endless portions of ragù on your plate (along with a nod of “mi raccomando finisci tutto”), Anastasia Miari has got you. In her new book Mediterranea (Quadrille, £28; photography © Marco Argüello), Miari collects recipes from nonne all around the Mediterranean, with enough anecdotes to make us feel like we’re right there in the kitchen too. 

Here are five of our favorite recipes that she collected from four Italian nonne, making the perfect menu for next time you’re hosting a dinner party or attempting to woo a lover (just as any true nonna would encourage).

Concetta’s Insalata di Cedro

In this Sicilian recipe, the green cedro (citron) becomes the perfect wintertime salad, with plenty of flavor bombs like anchovies, scallions, and chili flakes to complement the soft sweetness of the citrus fruit’s pith. Anastasia recommends eating it on its own, or as Cece demands, “with plenty of bread to mop up all that oil.” As they both claim, “this salad is the star of the show.”

Maria Addolorata’s Orecchiette con Cime di Rapa

This classic Pugliese duo is one of those impressive dishes that actually isn’t all that hard to make—once you get Nonna Maria’s pasta making technique down. Maria lives in a town in the far north of Puglia, surrounded by green fields and Pugliese mountains. “Locals call this the Tavoliere, which is the name this nonna also gives to the large wooden board that she uses to roll her orecchiette on,” writes Anastasia. 

Franca’s Lasagne 

The key to a lasagna alla nonna is making enough to serve every child, grandchild, friend… and hungry passerby. Anastasia calls this one the mother of all lasagne recipes. “A stunning Jackson Pollock of a dish,” she says of “the way Franca artfully drizzled her light béchamel between all the pasta layers, dashing white against bright red sugo splatters.”

Alfia’s Parmigiana di Melanzane

Though it has all the usual suspects—silky eggplant, tangy passata, crunchy breadcrumbs, melty mozzarella—Alfia’s recipe is not your typical eggplant parm, forgoing the oven for a frying pan and requiring a harrowing flip (or three). In Nonna Alfia’s words, “A real parmigiana di melanzane is not baked in an oven.”

Cece’s Cassatelle Ragusane

Ricotta, Sicily’s powerhouse ingredient, makes its way into sweet and savory preparations alike, and these simple lemony delights from Nonna Cece highlight it best. “These cassatelle are made exclusively here and are not known to every Sicilian,” writes Anastasia, “so I feel honored to be inheriting Cece’s generations-old recipe.”