Pasta: Recipes from the Kitchen of the American Academy in Rome, Rome Sustainable Food Project

I am enjoying this book, and it was definitely worth the non-Amazon price I paid for it. It has given me new courage, new knowledge, new techniques and new approaches for the fresh, seasonal produce that I've picked up at our local farmers markets. I only recently started exploring it after purchasing it at Eataly in Chicago just over a year ago (looking for ways to recreate my yummy meal at Eataly's Le Verdure).Philosophically speaking, I would call this a slow-food cookbook. I'm not sure I would suggest it, initially, as a resource for a harried weeknight cook. However once this harried cook has absorbed the knowledge and the approaches in "Verdure," I think said cook would be able to incorporate the approaches into his/her routine and make dinner look like an easy-breezy affair, complete with a nice glass of red wine. :-) Two thumbs up.

Between this book and "Sauces and Shapes," you will be absolutely set for making any type of pasta you want. I like this book because it's a bit heavier on technique than most pasta cookbooks I've come across, and anyone who makes pasta can tell you that your technique is much more important than your recipe. The best pasta recipe in the world will get mangled when a cook who doesn't know how to put it all together. That being said, the recipes here are also delicious. I very rarely find myself needing to adjust the ratios of certain ingredients.

After taking a pasta making class in Florence, I put a few pasta books on my Christmas list. Though the others are good, this is my favorite and the most practical if learning is what you want to do. Each recipe has a brief but action-oriented paragraph with cues on when to add the pepper, why to buy canned tomatoes over tomato sauce in the off-season, etc. While the other two have great narratives and fun facts, this one is the teacher and reminds me of our chef in Florence.

Having spent a year living at the Academy, I can say that chef Chris Boswell is extremely passionate, knowledgeable, and meticulous about his food, and it really shows in this book. A wide variety of recipes for the most authentic and regional pasta dishes are contained in this book, and everything is beautifully laid out and clearly explained. Having made a few dishes from it already, I am pleased with how much these dishes taste like the real thing I had in Italy.

Made my first homemade pasta noodles about 4 months before buying this book. Not coming from a family that cooked Italian food, I really only knew about spaghetti with red sauce, lasagna, and Alfredo sauce. The books starts off with a basic soffrito, then builds off of that. The recipes are great, but I often have to find substitutes for certain ingredients (same with the soups book from the same Academy).I’m not a much of a cook, but I’ve built some confidence using this book.

Wanted to get some great pasta recipes to go along with our pasta machine. This book has 4 pasta dough recipes that can be modified based on some of the book teachings. Great division of recipes by regions of Italy. Have tried two with great success. You will be surprised with how wonderful fresh pasta is and when the pasta is the center of the dish!

Great little book, super condition, and very quickly shipped, thank you!

This is a compact book containing equal amounts of authenticity and culinary wisdom. Having lived in Italy for years, I know every recipe and technique to be genuine. This is one my most prized cook books.