Carlo Middione - Pasta

Copyright 2008, 1996, 1982 by Carlo Middione
Photography 2008 by Ed Anderson

All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Croup, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
www.tenspeed.com

Ten Speed Press and the Ten Speed Press colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Cover by Toni Tajima
Food and prop styling by Jenny Martin-Wong

Previously published as Carlo Middiones Traditional Pasta (Ten Speed Press, 1996; 0-89815-805-2) and Pasta! Cooking It, Loving It (Chalmers Cookbooks, 1982; 0941034127)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Middione, Carlo.

Pasta / Carlo Middione ; photography by Ed Anderson.

p. cm.

Rev. ed.: of Carlo Middiones traditional pasta, 1996.

Summary: A collection of fifty authentic pasta recipes, including sauce recipes and instructions for making pasta from scratch

Provided by publisher.

Includes index.

eISBN: 978-1-60774-452-8

1. Cookery (Pasta) I. Middione, Carlo. Carlo Middiones traditional pasta. II. Title.

TX809.M17M5297 2008

641.822dc22

2007039775

v3.1

THIS BOOK HAS HAD so many helpers and dreamers over the years that it is no longer possible to address everyone, but to you allI love you very much. And in particular, I love my stalwart companion and wife of more than forty years, Lisa Middione, who is, and has been, my muse. Thank you for everything.

I first wrote this book twenty-five years ago, and through several editions, it has remained a mainstay in my own kitchen and in the kitchens and libraries of tens of thousands of people. It still rings true, and this latest edition has been revised, refined, and given a new, contemporary look for todays world. I am pleased and proud that this discourse on pasta has lasted so many years. There is no question these pages have given wisdom, knowledge, direction, and courage to would-be pasta experts and have helped mold them into the real thing. I still get letters telling me so. Many of the dishes herein are on my daily menu at my restaurant, Vivande, in San Francisco.

Of late, there are loads of different Italian dried pastas to choose from, more and better wines than one can imagine from the fertile soils of Italy, and an avalanche of cheeses of every type, so pasta has taken on a new and much broader place in the pantry and at the table. Since the last edition, specialty equipment and ingredients for making pasta are now much more readily available at well-stocked cookware stores and supermarkets and online. Another welcome change is that more and more people realize the importance of pasta as a first dish or main dish in the meal. And many Americans have come to realize that pasta has unique merits that make it delicious on its own.

For many Americans pasta has become a staple, a must-have food. Some people eat it because of implied health benefits, some because it is inexpensive, some because they simply cannot live without its tasty, earthy flavor and, if correctly cooked, its texture. The increase in the consumption of pasta has led to a heightened interest in sauces and methods of using pasta in meals. Because of pastas incredible versatility, one can see that there are endless ways to savor it as a major element in the daily diet.

Me, I never tire of pasta. I have tired of eating chocolate bars, meat, and fish, but I say proudly and truthfully I have never tired of pasta, whether I eat it or cook it or serve it. It is my hope that this book will continue to stir up interest in the fun of making and eating pasta so that thousands more will cherish its rewards.

PASTA IS NOT SIMPLY flour and water or eggs. It is a way of life. Pasta knows no social, political, or economic barriers or influences. It is a godsend for the poor, and the richest of the rich have enjoyed pasta with equal gusto. Pasta may well be the most democratic food in the world because it does the most good for the most people.

Medical studies have reported a lower incidence of heart disease and cancer among those who eat pasta daily as long as it is cooked al dente (literally, to the teeth, or chewy), that is, firm, yet tender. If pasta is cooked thus, it acts like a complex carbohydrate, making it a healthy and thankfully delicious food. (Nutritionists stress the importance of complex carbohydrates, especially in unrefined forms, as focal elements in a healthful diet because they give muscle tissue plenty of food to grow on and far less fat to worry about.)

Personally, I would almost always rather eat a normal serving of good pasta than a steak. I get more immediate satisfaction from the pasta, along with fewer calories and more peace of mind and stomach, than I could possibly get from the meat, although I do enjoy eating meat. Whether made from the whole grain, or refined and enriched with fortified vitamins, the wheat flour in pasta provides a good distribution of essential amino acids to help supply protein, B vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin), and iron. The food values are even greater in fresh egg pasta, which is considered to be one of the worlds most perfect foods because it contains virtually all of the essential nutrients. Pasta is low in fat and sodium and, if properly prepared and served, easily digested. It is an extraordinarily economical source of excellent nutrition, which can be appropriately dressed up or dressed down for almost any eating occasion.

In tracing the origins of pasta there are, of course, a few givens. We know that our primitive ancestors first gathered wild wheat, discovered how to hull and cook the grain, and learned to mix it with water to make an edible paste. This grain paste was a staple of most prehistoric civilizations, and it has remained a staple in some form ever since.

Relics from the Etruscan civilization of the fourth century B.C. show that these people had developed the tools to mix flour into dough, roll it out on a table, and cut it into strips. The Latin word nodellus, meaning the little knot that pasta can get into if youre not careful to be sure the dough isnt sticky, gave us the word noodles. Other civilizations arrived at the same result using buckwheat, rice, soybeans, mung beans, and other grains and flours.

However, over the centuries, the role of wheat pasta as a significant culinary medium has realized its highest potential in Italy. Nowhere else does pasta show up in so many guises or become such a mainstay and dietary staple as among contemporary Italians, and nowhere else has it achieved cultural expression as an indigenous form of art. There, the pristine and basic flavors of northern Italian pastasciutta (any pasta served with sauce) simply dressed with butter and cheese, are at one end of the scale (and the country), while the complex flavors of the delicious and earthy pasta al forno (baked pasta) of Sicily in the south represent the other extreme in a very broad range of applications. The pasta dish can take a primary or a secondary place in an Italian meal. Pasta can be very kind to you as a cook when you want to make a particular dish, or you can just see what you have on hand, and pasta will say, Lets get with it!