[.ca] The Complete Book of Pasta and Noodles (ISBN 060980930X)

From Amazon.com:
Americans love pasta. But this doesn't mean we know about its many types, how best to serve it, or even how best to bring it from plate to mouth. Exploring these topics and more, The Cook's Illustrated Complete Book of Pasta and Noodles offers a comprehensive introduction to the world's pasta, from spaghetti, couscous, and spaetzle to ramen, udon, rice sticks, and more. Compiled from the pages of Cook's Illustrated, the magazine of culinary investigation, the book is a trove of illustrated step-by-step instructions (on rolling pasta dough, for example), hundreds of pasta and related recipes, tips on buying and storage, and other useful data. In chapters such as "Dried Semolina Pasta and Chinese Wheat Noodles," the book explores a particular pasta type and then provides useful supplementary information. Included, for example, are pasta-tasting results, a "gallery" of pasta shapes, and material on matching pasta shapes to sauces. Offered also are comprehensive saucing chapters that cover such pasta accompaniments as olive oil, butter, cheese, bread crumbs, canned and fresh tomatoes, and seafood, among many others. The recipes themselves are exhaustive and, as one might expect, models of accuracy and good taste. Included are the likes of Macaroni with Spinach and Gorgonzola, Lasagna with Shrimps and Scallops, Potato Gnocchi with Butter, Sage, and Parmesan Cheese, and Cellophane Noodle Salad with Charred Beef and Snow Peas. With master recipes for many of the basic pasta types and more than 300 illustrations, the book should enlighten pasta lovers while whetting their appetite for its many satisfactions. --Arthur Boehm

A Must For Pasta Lovers!:
I'm an avid cook and, while I no longer subscribe to "Cooks Illustrated" magazine, I respect editor Christopher Kimball and his expert "Cook's Illustrated" kitchen crew and have had good luck, more or less, with their recipes which, if followed exactly, are virtually foolproof. I also never fail to learn something from their informative kitchen commentary. All in all, Kimball's recipes and advice are beneficial to both novice and experienced cooks. That having been I have to point out that taste is, of course, subjective. For instance, I've found, from trying a number of Kimball's recipes, that he is a salt-a-holic. I prefer to cook with little or no salt, as I find the taste harsh and unpleasant, and if I followed Kimbell's recipes exactly I'd be drowning in the stuff. I prefer pepper and tend to double or triple the often meager amounts Kimbell calls for in his recipes (usually he calls for four or fives times more salt than pepper, and I almost reverse that ratio). But, if your taste is the same as Kimball's when it comes to a particular food, his well-researched and thoroughly-tested recipes will be amazing! I must also warn cooks that Kimball's cookbooks are books not necessarily made for cooking (odd, isn't it?). They are standard-bound hardcover editions that rarely lie flat (the latest, "The Best Recipe," is a little better than the others) and the index is dreadful--a fairly major gripe when you consider how important an index is to a cookbook when, say, you quickly want to find a recipe for "Chicken Soup" and you can't even decipher where the "Cs" start! There may be six or seven pages under the tiny heading "entrees," five of which may start with "chicken," leading you to believe you're in the "Cs" when you're actually in the "Es." It's very confusing. Many other people have recommended putting dictionary like letter headers (for example "CHI-CLA") at the top of each index page and, after trying it, I have to say I highly recommend this method. All of Kimball's "Cook's Illustrated" cookbooks follow the same basic format: a long-winded, but often interesting, discourse on how Kimball views the "perfect" version of whatever it is he's showing you how to cook, including a lengthy explanation of variations he has tried, followed by his "Master Recipe" for the food, including common variations. In "The Complete Book of Pasta and Noodles," Kimball covers everything from homemade pasta (surprisingly, he doesn't stress it's necessity, saying dried pasta is almost as good and a whole lot easier) to every type of sauce and other topping--Italian, Chinese, Mediterranean, etc.--imaginable. Usually my biggest problem with Kimball cookbooks is this: If you have one, you have them all. He lifts whole passages and recipes and uses them in multiple books. "The Yellow Farmhouse Cookbook," and the "Cook's Bible," for instance, have at least 50 identical recipes, not to mention verbatim introductions to each section and cookware recommendations repeated word-for-word. "The Best Recipe" features ALL of the recipes (as far as I can tell) from the "Cook's Bible," with the same commentary, which is, in turn, lifted in whole chunks from past issues of "Cooks Illustrated." I'm sure this saves Mr. Kimball a great deal of time when compiling his cookbooks but it leaves little reason to own more than one edition of his work. The "Pasta and Noodle" cookbook though, is an exception to this rule. While it does contain exact repeats from other books, it also adds a wealth of new recipes and information, making it more than worth your while for anyone who cooks pasta regularly. There is literally a lifetime worth of pasta recipes in this small book!

Will enhance any aspiring chef's abilities:
Comprised of more than 400 diverse and easy-to-follow recipes, techniques and kitchen tips, The Complete Book Of Pasta And Noodles offers clear, concise, step-by-step instructions that make even the most exotic recipes easily accessible to the most novice kitchen cook. Beginning with "A Guide to Pasta and Noodles", The Complete Book Of Pasta And Noodles covers every conceivable aspect of pasta and noodle dish preparation. From sauces to lasagne, from ravioli to couscous, from spatzle to soba, The Complete Book Of Pasta And Noodles is a definitive and highly recommended culinary cookbook and guide that will enhance any aspiring chef's abilities to serve delicious, nutritious, noodle and pasta based cuisines.

Make the sauces but not the pasta:
I thought everyone knew that pasta should be made with the hardest (least starchy) flour, or, better yet, with durum semolina. That's why Italy imports zillions of tons of durum wheat from us. Yet, this book tells you to use all-purpose flour! The pasta is not merely the carrier for the sauce, and properly-made pasta is a real treat, but you will never experience this if you pair your lovingly-made sauce with pasta made with flour that was never meant to be used for that purpose. So, buy this book for the sauce recipes, but to make pasta, use the directions that come with your Italian pasta maker. Or buy fresh pasta.

Fantastic book for fast sauce recipies and homemade pasta:
This has simple but really good recipies for sauces that can be made while the water is boiling along with instructions and how-tos for sophisticated recipies and techniques. I liked the approach of explaining why particular methods work or are preferred by the author rather than just being told to do it. If I could have only two cookbooks, it would be this and Joy of Cooking. I received this book as a gift along with a pasta machine, but people compliment me on even the simplest sauces with bought pasta. They really go crazy over the homemade stuff!

Buy ThisIf You Want A Wide Variety of Flawless Pasta Recipes:
Do you love all kinds of pasta: Italian, Asian, spatzle, salads, soups, gnocchi and more? Do you find yourself in a rut? Do you want some truly wonderful dishes? This is the cookbook for you! Everything I've tried- from the pumpkin ravioli, lasagne, home-made (food processor pasta), to the asian peanut noodles - has been excellent. The sauces are wide ranging and also excellent: tomato, vegetables, bean/lentil, poultry, seafood, pesto, and much more provide you