Mastering Pasta: The Art and Practice of Handmade Pasta, Gnocchi, and Risotto

Pasta making—as opposed to pasta sauce making—has often received only lip service in US-published books. Vetri, who has a cluster of very well-regarded restaurants in Philadelphia, found that in agreeing to write a book on pasta making that he needed to fully re-educate himself, asking questions about flour choice, for instance, which led to entire chapter on the subject. He offers ten different fresh pasta doughs, seven doughs for extruded pasta, eleven doughs flavored with everything from buckwheat to parsley, and five additional doughs for hand-formed pastas such as pici, which look like thick, slightly uneven spaghetti. There are, of course, some masterful sauces to go along with the pasta, as well as a few gnocchi and risotto. This is the way to get serious about pasta making.

Hardcover. Color photographs throughout.