Pasta Pronto: The Ultimate Guide to Creating Delicious Dishes With Your Pasta Machine

Rating:
Summary: The best pasta machine cookbook.
Review: Just when I thought I'd put my pasta machine away in its box, along comes this book!

The recipes are great, and work consistently for me. The sauces are a big plus -- we're way beyond marinara here.

A bonus is the section on yummy desserts with the machine.

Rating:
Summary: Forget the bread machine, pull out the pasta maker.
Review: There is a saying that says something to the effect that the person with the most toys wins. Kitchen gadgets are no exception. Bread machines, juice makers, and of course a pasta makers. Fresh pasta makes a great meal and costs a lot less to make your own then it does to buy fresh pasta. LisÁ Stern has written a guide to creating dishes using the pasta machine, named Pasta Pronto!.

The book is published by HP Books, and contains a little over 150 recipes. Several of the recipes are very interesting and have wonderful flavors, others are to bland and do not use contrasting flavors and textures to create better meals. Some of the less than great recipes, in my opinion, are Pesto Pasta with Pesto, Tangy Chive Pasta with Cucumber Sauce, Roasted Garlic Pasta with Roasted Garlic Sauce and Peas, Roasted Red Pepper Pasta with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce, Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto, and Chicken Noodles with Chicken Soup. Some of the recipes with better flavor combinations include Artichoke-Heart Ravioli with Roasted Peppers and herbs, Gorgonzola-Walnut Ravioli with Pear Vinaigrette and Greens, Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Rosemary-Garlic Sauce, Tequila Pasta with Garlicky Chili con Carne, Saffron Pasta with Sole Almandine, Very Dill Pasta with Poached Salmon and Spinach Beurre Blanc, and Asian Buckwheat Pasta in Miso Broth with Wasabi Dribble. There are also many non-pasta recipes that use the machine that are worth checking out, and a few very unusual recipes that could become interesting dishes, like Apple-Apple Kugel, Refried Bean Ravioli with Spicy Cheddar Sauce, Oatmeal Pasta with Maple-Walnut Sauce, Chips 'n' Salsa Pasta with Roasted Tomato and Corn Salsa, Chocolate Mole Pasta with Chicken Mole Sauce, and Apple Pasta with Apple, Leeks and Brie.

Pasta Pronto! contains many recipes, yet it lacks illustrations. There are no pictures to show procedures for the regular person who may not know all of the techniques. There is not enough information on techniques and options, and the recipes do not include any variations.

This cookbook is not over priced, making the value still good for what you are receiving, and there are not as many pasta machine cookbooks out yet as there are bread machine books.