AROUND HOME : Angeli Food Baskets

THERE ARE LOTS of reasons to go to Trattoria Angeli. One of the most compelling is for the best biscotti in town. (Served with a glass of the sweet vin santo , these fragrant, not-too-sweet Italian cookies are superb.) When “Pasta Fresca,” the new cookbook written by owner Evan Kleiman (with co-author Viana La Place) came out recently, many of the restaurant’s fans rushed to see if the biscotti recipe was included.

No such luck.

But if you can’t bake them at home, you can at least take them home from the restaurant. Because Trattoria Angeli has introduced a line of custom gift baskets. The baskets come in three sizes and are filled with dried and fresh pasta, amaretti, breadsticks, Italian candies, an Angeli apron and fresh fruit. You can add your choice of extra fillers; these include three different kinds of olive oil (a peppery extra-virgin called Il Rusticale, a smoother extra-virgin called Fattorie Toscane and Olio Santo, which has been flavored with chiles, bay leaves and garlic). Other filler items include panettone , balsamic vinegar, Angeli T-shirts, signed copies of “Pasta Fresca” and “Cucina Fresca”--even Alessi’s beautiful oil and vinegar cruet set. And, of course, those wonderful biscotti.

The restaurant will also make up baskets that include cheese, salami and the restaurant’s own deliciously crusty little loaves of bread. Prices start at $25. Baskets can be delivered in Los Angeles or sent through the mail.

Angeli baskets are available at Trattoria Angeli, 11651 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles; telephone (213) 478-1191 .