Pasta Sfoglia: From Our Table to Yours, More Than 100 Fresh, Seasonal Pasta Dishes [Hardcover]

Ron Suhanosky (Author), Colleen Suhanosky (Author), Susan Simon (Contributor)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The renowned Sfoglia restaurant reveals its pasta secrets-easily recreated in your own kitchen.

Tables at Sfoglia in Manhattan and Nantucket are much sought-after by the fans of the restaurant's authentic and delicious cuisine. Now you won't have to wait for a table at Sfoglia. With Pasta Sfoglia, you can prepare its master recipes right in your own kitchen. Here, for the first time, chef-owners Ron and Colleen share recipes from their kitchen, enabling home cooks to make sophisticated pasta dishes with efficiency and ease. They  found the perfect collaborator in cookbook author, Susan Simon, who shares their passion for all things Italian.

Beautifully illustrated in full color, Pasta Sfoglia lets you

• Use the step-by-step instructions to create perfect pasta-the Sfoglia way
• Experience dishes ranging from the traditional (Nonna's Sunday Ragu) to the new and distinctive (Goat's Milk Cheese, Spinach, Cappellacci, Golden Raisins, Saffron Butter)
• Dive into the 111 rich and flavorful recipes for every kind of pasta dish-including fresh, dry, and filled pasta, dumplings, and grains
• Improve your preparation with tips on choosing the best ingredients with an emphasis on seasonal products, picking alternate ingredients, and information about the origin of each dish
• Enhance your enjoyment of the recipes through the authors' entertaining stories of how their food and travel experiences in Italy, Nantucket, and New York inspired their recipes

If you love pasta and cuisine grounded in loving traditions and uncompromised flavor, Pasta Sfoglia is the perfect collection to inspire you to bring your own traditions to the table.

Recipe Excerpts from Pasta Sfoglia

Spaghetti with Strawberries, Tomato and Balsamic

Ricotta Cavatelli with Broccoli Rabe and Walnut Pesto

Gnocchi in a Sweet Red Repper Sauce with Amaretti

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (September 22, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470371331
• ISBN-13: 978-0470371336
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #411,806 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #99 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Cooking by Ingredient > Pasta

More About the Author

Ron Suhanosky and Colleen Marnell-Suhanosky, graduates of The Culinary Institute of America, are the chef-owners of the acclaimed Sfoglia restaurants on Nantucket and in Manhattan, as well as the store Tutto Sfoglia. In 2003 Sfoglia was named a Rising Star of American Cuisine by the James Beard Foundation. Before opening the first Sfoglia in 1999, Ron worked in the kitchens of such celebrated restaurants as New York City's River Café and Il Buco, Colleen at Gramercy Tavern, and Boston's Biba. They also traveled together to Italy, cooking at such restaurants as Cibréo in Florence and La Crota in Alba. The Suhanoskys live with their three children in New York City and on Nantucket.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shakes up the Classics, and a Great Read, May 6, 2010

By 

Bengoshi (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pasta Sfoglia: From Our Table to Yours, More Than 100 Fresh, Seasonal Pasta Dishes (Hardcover)

I can understand why Sfoglia might rub up against some reviewers, who want the Italian classics. But for me, a guy who has probably two dozen Pasta books, of one sort of another, this is the only new Pasta book I would buy. I don't need another recipe for Spaghetti Putanesca, and I was really reluctant to buy this book when I pulled it off the shelf at a real bookstore. I said to myself: "You don't need another Pasta cookbook; put it down."

Then I started to page through, and every recipe intrigued me. They are not the classics, but do take classic Italian ingredients and techniques and give them a nice little twist. I like making the classic Pizzocheri (buckwheat pasta, served with cabbage, sage, fontina and butter), but it can be heavy, and is not really a "summertime dish." Sfoglia's buckwheat pasta is a take on blini and caviar; not Italian, really, but genius, I think. Other recipe's adhere more closely to true Italian ingredients, but in novel ways. After buying the book, and paging through it, I decided all but a few of the recipes are a must to be tried.

The story line also intrigued me: "This guys last name is not Italian, who is he?" Being a half-breed myself, and with a non-Italian last name, I've heard the skepticism over the years about my roots. But I think half-breeds sometimes take to their Italian roots with more of a passion than the pure bred. (Case in point: Laura Schenone's The Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken: A Search for Food and Family )

Its clear Ron Suhanosky and his half-Italian wife are passionate about recreating that Italian side of themselves. Its all about recreating memories, and emotion, and it shows in the recipes and in the well stated introduction to every one of the recipes. Who wants to read just a recipe? The story line Ron Suhanosky provides, behind every recipe, makes them come alive. And the story about their travels, cooking their way through Italy, and opening up their dream "pasta" place, is also intriguing (albeit, provoking a bit of envy in someone who can only dream of living that life).

Not everything works perfectly. I'm still wrapping my head around using Grapeseed Oil, rather than Olive Oil, in my recipes; but I'm being open minded and bought a big can of Grapeseed Oil to try out. And Risotto with water, rather than broth, and with the ingredients sitting on top, instead of mixed in? Certainly not orthodox, but Suhanosky makes some good points: about broth breaking down the starches, and about the over use of olive oil, especially extra virgin oil, which is really more appropriate for salads, etc.

In the end, its all about inspiration and this book has certainly inspired me: to go buy some Guanciale, and make this recipe; to buy a Cavatelli maker, to try that one. I'm looking forward to cooking my way through Sfoglia; I just wish I had more time to do so.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Could have been a contender!, June 23, 2010

By 

M. Jones - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pasta Sfoglia: From Our Table to Yours, More Than 100 Fresh, Seasonal Pasta Dishes (Hardcover)

This book should be great; the authors have a great story, the pictures are beautiful and the dishes sound unusual and delicious.

However, the recipes are so poorly written that this book is instead a study in frustration. Directions are not clear and it seems as though fact checking/recipe testing was just skipped.

What a shame!

2 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful cookbook, January 31, 2010

By 

T. Piazza (San Francisco) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pasta Sfoglia: From Our Table to Yours, More Than 100 Fresh, Seasonal Pasta Dishes (Hardcover)

Unlike many cookbooks that basically just give recipes, this outstanding book explains the reasons behind many of the useful cooking techniques presented. For someone who really wants to understand pasta, this is the book to read.