Yes, the man known for his love of pork and offal, has come out with a new cookbook that puts the spotlight on fresh, seasonal veggies.

“Molto Gusto” (Ecco) by Mario Batali is not a vegetarian cookbook per se. But the casual, easy dishes are all about using meat as an accent, while nudging vegetables to the forefront instead.

It’s a refreshing, modern sensibility from a celeb chef, who has lost a ton of weight recently, and has even embraced the new “Meatless Mondays” movement, geared toward getting people to eat more vegetables at least once a week.

See that delicious “Pennette with Summer Squash & Ricotta” above, which I made from the book? Even my husband, aka Meat Boy, loved this absolutely-positively meatless dish. What a shock, huh?

It couldn’t be easier to make, either. Try it for yourself. Find the recipe and my review of the cookbook at ProjectFoodie.com.

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