Customer Reviews

Pasta

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.