Customer Reviews

250 True Italian Pasta Dishes: Easy and Authentic Recipes

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This book is a great primer on pasta dishes cooked in a truly Italian style. Love the book and love the food even more.

The best thing about this book? It's comprehensive. Each chapter could probably be its own book: baked pastas, filled pastas, fresh pasta, quick pasta... the list goes on. I can't imagine you would really NEED another pasta cookbook if you have this one. It has all the classics, and everything you need to know about making, eating, and serving pasta the Italian way.

I was kind of disappointed when I got this book as a Christmas present because it looks plain. I have been pleasantly surprised by all the recipes I've tried. The linguine with clams was spot-on and you can't go wrong with the pappardelle with a mixed meat ragu. It may not look fancy, but give this book a chance. The author clearly knows what he's doing and I like that it includes all the Italian names of the dishes so you learn a little bit as you cook.

Plus, when you get down to it, a sturdy, simple book is really much more useful in the kitchen since it's going to get splattered with oil and dusted with flour. I'm a convert.

I looked at a lot of pasta books before settling on this one. I choose this one because I've wanted to try making my own pasta, but realistically, I can't do that every day. I knew this book would be more useful because it has recipes for both fresh and dried pasta. It's nice to have a book that caters to different occasions, for when you have a lot of time to cook up a really gourmet meal and when you just need something really quick.

And the recipes don't disappoint! I have yet to make the fresh pasta (good thing I got this book, right?) but I loved the baked perciatelli with zucchini and rigatoni with turkey and fennel, as did all my friends who got to eat it.

The book is full of great looking recipes, and none of them are difficult. If you are a pasta lover, this is the book for you! There is plenty of variety from cold salads to mouth watering pasta meals. The organization of the book is easy to follow, and helps your choose based on preference like salad vs. meat and pasta, or seafood and pasta.

I have always loved Italian food but whenever I wanted to cook some for myself I either found the recipe too complex or the ingredients too exotic. Coletta makes good on his claim to provide "easy and authentic recipes". This book is easy to use, provides tons of hints and tips throughout and almost all the recipes "are easy to make and don't take much time"...I started with the first chapter where the preparation of all the other ingredients can be prepared in the time it takes for the pasta to boil and for me to have poured my second glass of wine! I'm male, 65 and have rudimentary cooking skills and I am estatic to have found this book...so will you.

The best Italian Cookbook Ive had! Easy to apply and will make you seem like a pro!!! Love it!!! Buying another one as a Christmas present for my sister!!