EAT THIS. . .IT'LL MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER!

Unless you're already a DeLuise fan, you may well be turned off by all the patter and effusive belly-rubbing that accompanies these old home recipes. But the simple Italian dishes from his Mamma's Brooklyn kitchen should transport anyone whose childhood memories--or adult encounters--include zeppole at religious festas, grain pie at Easter, and anything like Mamma DeLuisa's Friday fish soup, rabbit cacciatore, and many ways with eggplant. Dom's own just slightly dressier offerings also stick close to the tried and true, with loyalties to calamari and ""lots of garlic"" balancing out the occasional indulgence in conveniences like canned mushroom soup. (""Trust me,"" he writes in calling for this particular gourmet scourge. We do.) No stickler, Deluise prefers his dishes fresh and healthful but can't pass by an artery-wasting cheesecake. . .and doesn't seem to be joking when he emphasizes that Parmesan cheese must be ""freshly grated""--by the grocer at purchase, not the cook. Granted, the world does not need yet more recipes for plain polenta, standard lasagna, or everyday fried sausage and peppers--much less the many similarly unpretentious non-Italian specialties DeLuise has borrowed from his celebrity acquaintances. But home cooks intimidated by the recent run of classic-to-trendy recipes for entertaining could eat this up.