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Rating: 
Summary: Best Pasta Cookbook!
Review: Do you like pasta? Then buy this book! I was looking for a book by Anna Del Conte and decided to try this one. Boy, am I glad I did. It's the best cookbook I own. The authors give basic instructions on such things as making "perfectly cooked pasta every time," and there is an endless number of easy, delicious recipes that also tell you which pasta to use and what can be done in advance. The "at a glance" format makes it so easy to quickly navigate through this book. And there's so much more! You will treasure this book.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I am an Italian-American and very picky about my Italian cookbooks. This one is excellent, we have made probably about 30 different recipes in it and only 2 have been clunkers. What I really love about it (besides all the gorgeous photos) is the alternative suggestions for sauces and pasta styles. I wish all my cookbooks looked like this.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Good Pasta Book
Review: I love pasta and always like to use this book when I am creating something from scratch. I have found this book to be very helpful in teaching me about cooking pasta and all of the wonderful sauces that can go with it.The first portion of the book is excellent because it explains how to choose pasta in terms of ingredients and size/shape for a good pairing to the selected sauce. It also goes into techniques like tossing and using the right amount of cooking time. The recipes were clearly written and accompanied by many full-color photographs of what the dishes looked like when done. Overall I have had a lot of good results with the pesto, tomato, and meat recipes. My cream sauces have not turned out as well though which is why I gave this book a four instead of a five. Regardless, it IS excellent and I believe a sound investment if you are looking to add a solid pasta book to your cookbook collection.
Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Pasta Recipe Book
Review: I love this book! I learned to cook pasta from my husband's Italian mother and grandmother and I thought I was doing well, but this book has refined and simplified my pasta dishes. The book is easy to read and easy to use with step-by-step directions. After making one of the tomato based sauces, my husband said it was the best he'd ever had! There are recipes for every type of pasta, too, using seafood (my favorite), herbs and oils, and cheese. Fresh pasta, store bought, how to cook it...whether you've been cooking pasta all your life or just learning how this book is perfect. The pictures alone make it worth while. I, also, purchased the author's Ultimate Bread book and love it as much as this one.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I'm a good cook, and love to make more complex meals, but this book has basic great recipes - - while some are more complex, this is the best pasta book I've seen that can point you to ingredients you likely already have in your pantry, and help you to whip up something wonderful. Haven't been disappointed in a recipe yet, and have bought this book for a few friends who are still in the beginner to intermediate stages of loving to cook, and they all love it. Bottom line is that the recipes are great.
Rating:
Summary: Master Cooking Class for Pasta Lovers
Review: The Italians, who are masters at combining sophistication with simplicity, have eaten pasta for the past millennium or so. They know that no other food can nourish and delight so easily, while asking for so small and effort on the part of the cook. Simple, yet sustaining, a dish of pasta satisfies our hunger yet invites the eye and pleases the palate with its countless shapes, colors, and flavors. ~Anna Del Conte & Eric Treuille
Eric Treuille has been in love with cooking since he worked in his uncle's boulangerie in France. He has worked as a chef in Paris, London and New York. Here he presents the ten commandments for pasta making, tools of the trade, pasta varieties, cooking secrets, classic sauces such as pesto and essential pantry items for busy cooks.
Recipes:
Pasta with Tomatoes - Red Pesto, Tomato and Mozzarella Al Forno
Pasta with Butter and Cheese - Butter and Parmesan, Lemon, Basil, and Mascarpone
Pasta with Mushrooms- Mushroom, White Wine and Cream
Pasta with Seafood- Shrimp with Lemon and Basil, Smoked Salmon with White Wine, Cream, and Chives
Pasta with Meat - Crispy Pancetta and Scallions, Classic Bolognese, Classic Lasagne
Pasta with Olives and Olive Oil- Spicy Lemon Olive, Chili Olive Pesto
Pasta with Greens and Herbs - Basil Pesto with Variations, Sizzling Sage Butter, Spinach Lasagne
Pasta with Beans and Lentils - Braised Umbrian Lentils
Pasta with Garlic- Golden Garlic and Onion, Roasted Garlic and Cherry Tomatoes
Pasta with Peppers and Eggplant- Roasted Pepper Pasta, Red Pepper Pesto
Fresh and Filled Pasta - Fresh Egg Pasta, Porcini Mushroom Filling
After reading this book you will know why it is important to buy the highest quality pasta you can find, why a heavy-bottomed deep pot is best for slow cooked sauces, and how you can serve pasta in an authentic fashion.
At the start of Pasta, you will find page after page of pictures and pasta descriptions. Fettuccine, Tagliolini, Bucatini, Chifferi, and many others make their appearance. At the end of the book, there are sections for what to keep in the refrigerator, freezer and cupboard. The Pasta Planner section lists pasta according to Make Ahead, No Cook, Quick Cook, Slow Cook, and Al Forno.
The Pasta on the Menu section gives ideas for Pasta Parties, Pasta to Impress, Summer Weekend Pasta and more. There are notes about using Tipo 00 flour and there are four mail order sources at the end of the book. May I also suggest Zingermans online for pasta and cheese. King Arthur Flour might also be a great source for supplies and bowls.
The end of the book shows all the top skills in brilliant color. Learn to peel tomatoes, soak dried mushrooms, peel garlic cloves, chop onions, peel peppers and finely chop garlic.
The recipes all have short lists of ingredients which makes this book perfect for new cooks. A few recipes require you to make a separate sauce ingredient, but most of the recipes include the sauce ingredients along with the instructions for how to cook the pasta.
The Crispy Pancetta and Scallions Recipe has the following ingredients:
8 pancetta or bacon slices
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 scallions, sliced
1 lb dried pasta
ΒΌ cup freshly grated Parmesan
salt, black pepper
additional freshly grated Parmesan to serve
The recipe instructions are very simple and there are additional notes about which pasta you could use. You might want to use penne, rigatoni, gnocchi, or conchiglie. A "Cook's Note" concludes each recipe and at times will include a tip or a note about the ingredients.
If you know anyone who loves pasta and you want to buy them an amazing gift, this is the book. However, if you only buy one and send it to yourself, I can almost guarantee you will keep this book because it is that interesting. So, you might want to purchase two!
We just visited a magical Italian restaurant and suddenly I wanted to make pasta again. As I look through this book I am remembering the candlelight and the tiramisu.
~TheRebeccaReview.com
Rating:
Summary: Simple and Delicious
Review: This book is the perfect way to get started cooking some great pasta. The first 5-10 pages provide the reader with the basics to pasta, preparation, proper cooking utensils, etc. The book is then divided into chapters such as tomato sauces, cream sauces, meat dishes, vegtable and herb pasta, and many more. The recipes are easy to read and usually contain 10 or fewer ingredients, which makes the 1/2-1 hour after work to make dinner a lot easier. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for good, easy, classic Italian pasta meals.
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