Slow cooking draws out flavours and softens the texture of food to create delicious, impressive, often inexpensive meals with little fuss. There are casseroles and one-pots that slowly simmer to perfection, roasts that tenderize in the oven, soups that quietly bubble away on the hob, puddings such as meringues and fruit compotes, and breads that bake to light perfection. Gennaro is a traditional, rural Italian cook. He uses lots of inexpensive cuts of meat, as well as beans and pulses, which all benefit from slow cooking, so there is plenty for the thrifty home cook to choose from. This is classic Italian food, such as Roast leg of lamb with baby onions, Rich Tyrolean beef goulash, Lasagne and Meringue with zabaglione cream and custard, that takes the hard work out of preparing supper.