pasta, pretty please
I do love my pasta and I was excited to see this cookbook about pasta. This cookbook was more than I expected though. This was not a book for the pasta-maker in me, but was for a more advanced pasta maker. I did learn a great deal from this book and you really should see the pictures inside this book. Who makes this pasta?! It’s beautiful.
I like looking at all the pasta varieties in the store. It feels like every week, there is something new on the shelves. This past week, I saw thick & hearty noodles, before that it was pasta made out of beans. What’s next? A few years ago, I bought an attachment for my mixer so I could make pasta and I think I’ve only used it a few times. Before that, I had my grandmother’s old pasta maker that attached to our table. My husband used it a few times a year to make noodles. I keep thinking that I want to make my own pasta and when I saw this book, I thought perhaps this was a “sign.”
If it was a “sign,” it was really telling me, “see if there is a beginner’s guide to pasta because this book is not for you, YET.” I did like this book as it had lots of information for making pasta, packed with the different varieties and it was laid out with nice details.
I like colored pasta and this book talks about creating them and how to achieve the right color. We are talking 25 colors! From Red Beet Dough to Beet-Paprika Dough, they give you the lowdown on what ingredients you need to mix together, in step-by-step directions to get those rich colors. From there, they talk about how to roll-out and cut the dough. We are talking techniques here, this is an art. Should you freeze, store or dry your pasta? “You’ll want to serve your pasta projects in this book when they’re at the peak of their beauty.”
The author discusses the different types of pasta and I was drooling over the pictures of the fresh pasta in this section. From colorful farfalle, to hand-cut tajarin, to a six-colored fettuccine, the author gives you instructions on how to create these masterpieces. There were stars (actual stars) on pappardelle, polka-dotted farfalle, 4th of July pappardelle and then, the argyle lasagna sheets were simply amazing!
The book is set up in sections beginning with the basic dough. It goes next into the sheeting section, then the advanced section where the pasta became a work of art. Rolled pastas and gnocchi were in the next section. There was a section of sauces and a final section of fillings for your works of art. A conversion chart and index complete the book.
This book is not for me YET but hopefully in the future, I will need it. It does begin with the basics and progresses quickly with detailed information. If I were to create these works of art, I would definitely make sure we savored every bite.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEQncX19Wh4
