It's all part of the Food Network's shift toward practical home cooking, said Susan Stockton, vice president for culinary productions. "We were very chef-y in the beginning, but viewers told us they wanted one-stop grocery store recipes they could make every day."

Six of the 10 top-selling cookbooks on Amazon.com are by three Food Network stars: De Laurentiis (with the No. 1 best-selling book), Rachel Ray (four titles) and Paula Deen (one). Ina Garten, whose previous three books have sold more than a million copies, has the No. 11 spot with her latest cookbook, "Barefoot in Paris." At Borders and Waldenbooks, 12 of the top 25 cookbooks in 2004 were by five Food Network authors (Garten, Ray, Deen, Emeril Lagasse and Alton Brown).

De Laurentiis' wild ride as a food celebrity began last September, she said, when her three-year-old cooking show went from being aired twice a week to twice a day. "Viewership exploded," she said.

When it was announced that an "Everyday Italian" cookbook was being published in February, Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com were flooded with pre-orders. Although her contract with Clarkson Potter called for an initial 30,000-copy printing, the book has sold 250,000 copies in seven weeks, De Laurentiis said.

De Laurentiis was born in Rome but moved to Southern California when she was 7. Her large family would gather every Sunday at her grandfather's house in Beverly Hills for a day of cooking and eating.

After graduating from UCLA in 1996 with a degree in social anthropology, she spent a year at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.

She returned to California and worked in the kitchens of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Marina del Rey and at Spago in Beverly Hills, but decided the restaurant business was too grueling. Instead, she started her own catering company.

Three years ago, a friend at Food & Wine magazine asked her to do a story on her large Italian family and the food they loved. The article led to a call from the Food Network, which was looking for an Italian-style home cooking show.

Here's one of DeLaurentiis' recipes.

Spaghetti is bound together with eggs and cheese (the title literally means "cake made of pasta") that tastes great at room temperature. It can be served in wedges for a meatless dinner or in small squares as an appetizer or finger food. Either way, it's a good reason to make extra spaghetti and use the leftovers the next day in this recipe.

Torta di Pasta

• 8 ounces dried spaghetti
• 1/2 cup drained, oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
• 4 large eggs
• 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 3/4 cup freshly grated fontina or other mild cheese
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes, and drain. In a large bowl, toss the spaghetti with the sun-dried tomatoes, then set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, Parmesan and fontina cheeses, salt and pepper to blend. Add the egg mixture to the cooked spaghetti and toss to coat.

Preheat the broiler. In a medium ovenproof skillet over medium heat, heat the butter and olive oil. Transfer the spaghetti mixture to the skillet, pressing to form an even layer. Cook until the bottom is golden brown, about 3 minutes. Transfer the skillet to the oven and broil until the top is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Let the torta cool in the skillet to room temperature, then invert onto a platter. Cut the torta into wedges or small squares and serve at room temperature.

Makes 4 main-course servings or 6 appetizer servings