Marchetti - The glorious pasta of Italy

Many people had a hand in the creation of this book, and each one of them improved it immeasurably.

At Chronicle Books, I would like to thank my editor Bill LeBlond, who has enthusiastically supported me through three book projects (and who made my day by calling me the real dealcertainly one of the nicest compliments ever to come my way). Thank you to editor Amy Treadwell, who deftly steered the process along with the help of Sarah Billingsley and Molly Prentiss. A huge, HUGE thank you to Sharon Silva for her expert copyediting, and to Linda Bouchard for her careful proofreading of the manuscript. Thank you also to Doug Ogan, managing editor for this project, and Ben Kasman, production coordinator. Special thanks to Peter Perez, who had a notion, even before I did, that I might like to write a book about pasta, and to David Hawk, who together with Peter always works tirelessly to promote my work.

I am especially grateful to designer Sara Schneider and photographer France Ruffenach, whose work so beautifully captures the heart and soul of this book. Thank you also to food stylist George Dolese and assistant food stylist Elisabet der Nederlanden.

A big hug and thanks to my agent Lisa Ekus- Saffer, for always being there with support, guidance, and sound advice, and to her wonderful staff at The Lisa Ekus Group for all their hard work on my behalf.

Italians are known to be open and generous people, and I encountered those qualities time and again while working on this book. To my dear friends Titti Pacchione and Carlo Flagella: A thousand thanks for welcoming my family into your home and for making our visit togetherafter so many yearssuch a memorable one. We want to return the favor, so come on over! Special thanks to Renato Pacchione for introducing us to the delicious art of grilling arrosticini. Well be back for more.

I am deeply grateful to Cesidio Decina and Laura del Principe, owners of Plistia Ristorante Meubl, in Pescasseroli, and especially to Laura, who welcomed me into her kitchen and so very generously shared her recipes and her knowledge. She is an inspiration to watch.

Heartfelt thanks also to Marcello de Antoniis, who not only befriended four strangers in Bisenti, but who also introduced us to some of the most wonderful food that the province of Teramo has to offer. I am especially grateful to Marcello for introducing us to Domenico Degnitti and Rosa Narcisi, owners of Agriturismo Domus, and to Rosa, for inviting my daughter and me into the kitchen and for teaching us the art of making Maccheroni alla Mulinara. Many thanks also to Paola del Papa, who shared her recipe for Anellini alla Pecorara.

My sincerest thanks to Davide dAgostino, the talented young chef at Ristorante Vecchia Silvi, who shared his recipe and techniques for making Annellini alla Pecorara, as well as a variety of other wonderful pasta shapes, and to his parents, Annamaria and Marino, for their generous hospitality and for introducing us to more of Abruzzos culinary treasures. Thanks also to cheese maker Gregorio Rotolo of Agriturismo Valle Scannese, and to Bob Marcelli and the Marcelli family of La Porta dei Parchi, for helping to introduce the world to the wonderful cheeses of Abruzzo.

I would also like to send a special shout-out of thanks to my friend Joe Gray, for sharing his recipe for duck-egg fettuccine, and to Chef Nicholas Stefanelli of Bibiana, for sharing his recipe for spaghetti al nero di seppie and to Ashok Bajaj, who introduced me to Chef Stefanelli.

Thanks to friends and colleagues who are always there to support me, including Diane Morgan, Monica Bhide, Joe Yonan, Bonnie Benwick, Anne and John Burling, and Nancy Purves-Pollard and the terrific staff at La Cuisine.

Thank you to my sister, Maria, who is always willing to share her own recipes; to Darren and John, who are always ready to lend a helping hand; and to my parents, Frank and Gabriella, who fed me well and who first treated Scott and me to dinner at Plistia back in 1994 (I remember everything we ate!).

And to my familyScott, Nick, and Adrianathank you for being such fearless consumers of carbs. I said it before and Ill say it again: I am one lucky girl.

At my house, we never have just a dish of pasta. It is always a nice dish of pasta, as in, Who wants a nice dish of spaghetti and meatballs? Or, I feel like a nice dish of linguine with clams tonight. I picked up this turn of phrase from my Italian mother, who no doubt translated it from the Italian expression un bel piatto di pasta.

The fact is pasta is nice, in more ways than I can count. Italian cooks have known this for centuries and have provided us with a wealth of recipes for making noodles and combining them with an unbelievable variety of sauces. Even as countless other culinary fads have come and gone, our love for pasta continues unabated. Im not surprised.

For one thing, pasta is economical. An average package costs about the same as an espresso in an upscale coffee bar. Even the most expensive artisanal brands are usually priced at less than a round of espresso for four, and although these are not what I turn to for a weeknight family dinner, they are an excellent option for entertaining within a budget.

Pasta is also the busy cooks best friend in the kitchen. Packaged pasta can be prepared in less than half an hour, and in the time it takes to boil the water and cook the noodles, you can easily whip up a sauce, whether its Farfalle with .

But pasta is about much more than practicality. It is a creative cooks dream. Pasta stirs passion in the cook, and that is what The Glorious Pasta of Italy is aboutits a collection of my favorite recipes for the unapologetic pasta lover. Pasta was the first solid food I ate as a baby, and I have literally spent a lifetime learning, collecting, and creating pasta recipes, first in my mothers kitchen and then in my own. Along the way, I have met some wonderful cooks who have shared their knowledge and their most prized recipes, so that I might share them with you. The result is a book filled with an delicious mix of traditional and regional specialties, family favorites, and contemporary creations.

Whether you are making fresh noodles or using dried ones, pasta can be prepared in a thousand ways, and depending on how you choose to sauce it, will easily and happily accommodate everyones taste, from the most adherent vegan to the most unapologetic carnivore, not to mention picky children. Indeed, despite the attempts of the low-carb contingent to banish it from the table, pasta has way too much going for it to disappear.

If you use the seasons as your guide, you are always within reach of an inspired sauce, especially if you think broadly. For example, a sauce may not be saucy at all. It can be a saut of seasonal vegetables tossed with cooked pasta, grated cheese, and a splash of the starchy cooking water to keep the noodles from sticking together. In summer, tomatoes, eggplants/aubergines, zucchini/courgettes, and bell peppers/capsicums turn up frequently in my pasta dishes, often paired with imported or domestic artisanal cheeses, of which, Im happy to say, there seems to be an ever-growing selection. In winter, I like to toss pasta with rich sauces based on braised meats or hearty greens.

For the pasta lover, making fresh noodles has its own special rewards. I get an almost ridiculous feeling of accomplishment when I look at a batch of , as big as the plates they are served on. My pasta is never perfect; my half-moon ravioli are always a little off-kilter, my tagliolini never cut perfectly straight, but to me, that is the beauty of making your own pasta.