The Sauté Pan

A sauté pan, 10 to 12 inches in diameter, with either flaring or straight sides between 2 and 3 inches high, and a close-fitting lid, would probably be all one needs to cook a majority of the recipes in this book. Add to it a sturdy stockpot that could double as a risotto pot, and you could handle virtually any kind of Italian dish that is cooked over a burner. It is cooking over a burner, the direct and continuously responsive management of heat—as distinguished from oven baking, remote and preset—that is the main act in the Italian kitchen. The sauté pan can take on most of it: It can fry, simmer, sauté, stew, and fricassee, it makes sauces, and it even blanches skinny vegetables like asparagus.