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Sauces & Shapes: Pasta the Italian Way
Pasta is so universally popular in the United States that it can justifiably be called an American food. This book makes the case for keeping it Italian with recipes for sauces and soups as cooked in Italian homes today. There are authentic versions of such favorites as carbonara, bolognese, marinara, and Alfredo, as well as plenty of unusual but no less traditional sauces, based on roasts, ribs, rabbit, clams, eggplant, arugula, and mushrooms, to name but a few.
Anyone who cooks or eats pasta needs this book. The straightforward recipes are easy enough for the inexperienced, but even professional chefs will grasp the elegance of their simplicity.
Cooking pasta the Italian way means:
Keep your eye on the pot, not the clock.
Respect tradition, but don’t be a slave to it.
Choose a compatible pasta shape for your sauce or soup, but remember they aren’t matched by computer. (And that angel hair goes with broth, not sauce.)
Use the best ingredients you can find—and you can find plenty on the Internet.
Resist the urge to embellish, add, or substitute. But minor variations usually enhance a dish.
How much salt? Don’t ask, taste!
Serving and eating pasta the Italian way means:
Use a spoon for soup, not for twirling spaghetti.
Learn to twirl; never cut.
Never add too much cheese, and often add none at all.
Toss the cheese and pasta before adding the sauce.
Warm the dishes.Serve pasta alone. The salad comes after.
To be perfectly proper, use a plate, not a bowl.
The authors are reluctant to compromise because they know how good well-made pasta can be. But they keep their sense of humor and are sympathetic to all well-intentioned readers.
Anyone who cooks or eats pasta needs this book. The straightforward recipes are easy enough for the inexperienced, but even professional chefs will grasp the elegance of their simplicity.
Cooking pasta the Italian way means:
Keep your eye on the pot, not the clock.
Respect tradition, but don’t be a slave to it.
Choose a compatible pasta shape for your sauce or soup, but remember they aren’t matched by computer. (And that angel hair goes with broth, not sauce.)
Use the best ingredients you can find—and you can find plenty on the Internet.
Resist the urge to embellish, add, or substitute. But minor variations usually enhance a dish.
How much salt? Don’t ask, taste!
Serving and eating pasta the Italian way means:
Use a spoon for soup, not for twirling spaghetti.
Learn to twirl; never cut.
Never add too much cheese, and often add none at all.
Toss the cheese and pasta before adding the sauce.
Warm the dishes.Serve pasta alone. The salad comes after.
To be perfectly proper, use a plate, not a bowl.
The authors are reluctant to compromise because they know how good well-made pasta can be. But they keep their sense of humor and are sympathetic to all well-intentioned readers.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published October 14, 2013
107 people are currently reading
184 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 28, 2013
Normally, I find the pursuit of "authenticity" at worst pretentious and condescending and at best pointless. And similarly the insistence on "authentic" high quality ingredients (that is, expensive) to be cloying. It seems an exercise in superiority intended to make one feel bad if you don't do it the "right" way. Which saps the fun out of cooking.
This book, however, manages to sing the praises of Italian ingredients and techniques without making you feel ashamed if you have to make substitutions or can only afford very good ingredients instead of "the very best." Results can vary by the ingredients you use, but that's true of any dish. You just have to decide how much you want to compromise and what components are essential and which are supporting players.
Most of the recipes are basic, simple and straightforward. Most have roots in "peasant" dishes, though some once undervalued ingredients are now prized. There is a detailed section on the making of your own pastas, if you want to take the plunge. Still, most of these recipes will work with good quality store bought pastas.
This is not pizza joint pasta, but neither is it haute cuisine. This is good, basic cooking with an emphasis on good, fresh ingredients. Many of these dishes work as in a time crunch and with on-hand ingredients. Taking it from pantry to plate with these is not much more complicated than that go-to weeknight move of just opening a jarred sauce and doctoring it a little. If you can do that you can do some of the basic combinations here just as easily.
This book is just wonderful!
This book, however, manages to sing the praises of Italian ingredients and techniques without making you feel ashamed if you have to make substitutions or can only afford very good ingredients instead of "the very best." Results can vary by the ingredients you use, but that's true of any dish. You just have to decide how much you want to compromise and what components are essential and which are supporting players.
Most of the recipes are basic, simple and straightforward. Most have roots in "peasant" dishes, though some once undervalued ingredients are now prized. There is a detailed section on the making of your own pastas, if you want to take the plunge. Still, most of these recipes will work with good quality store bought pastas.
This is not pizza joint pasta, but neither is it haute cuisine. This is good, basic cooking with an emphasis on good, fresh ingredients. Many of these dishes work as in a time crunch and with on-hand ingredients. Taking it from pantry to plate with these is not much more complicated than that go-to weeknight move of just opening a jarred sauce and doctoring it a little. If you can do that you can do some of the basic combinations here just as easily.
This book is just wonderful!
January 21, 2024
I bought it.
While this book doesn't have nutrition information, the recipes are simple enough that it doesn't take much calculation. It shows you how to make many killer sounding, simple pasta recipes along with, if you want to, making your own pasta. These are home-cooking style recipes with the possible exception of some of the carbonara types and this book is aimed straight at the home chef. Includes pantry suggestions and other similar info. It's probably good for an added 10 pounds easy.
While this book doesn't have nutrition information, the recipes are simple enough that it doesn't take much calculation. It shows you how to make many killer sounding, simple pasta recipes along with, if you want to, making your own pasta. These are home-cooking style recipes with the possible exception of some of the carbonara types and this book is aimed straight at the home chef. Includes pantry suggestions and other similar info. It's probably good for an added 10 pounds easy.
February 26, 2018
A good reading book as well as cookbook
All of the photographs are at the end, so this book tells more than shows. However, the breadth of material covered is broad, the tone is intimate and chatty.
All of the photographs are at the end, so this book tells more than shows. However, the breadth of material covered is broad, the tone is intimate and chatty.
March 13, 2020
This book exceeded my expectations as it is primarily a really good Italian pasta and sauce cookbook, much more than just pairing items that work well together. The book deepened my appreciation for the art of Italian pasta and sauces, and soups and...
Want to read
February 8, 2014Listened to an interview on The Splendid Table
May 30, 2014
An excellent, in-depth guide to pasta and sauces.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews