The Complete Idiot's Guide to Cooking Pasta: By Natalie Danford

Pasta is so well-known for its ease of preparation, its healthful properties, and its inexpensiveness, that it's easy to forget how versatile it is. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Cooking Pasta has sections dedicated to each kind of pasta, with more than 100 recipes ranging from your standard Penne all'Arrabbiata, to more complex dishes like Pappardelle with Veal and Fennel, and Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe. But this is not just an Italian pasta book-recipes with Asian influence include Chicken Lo Mein and Udon with Sesame Sauce. With more than 100 recipes for the noodles themselves, soups, pasta salads, and much more, the book offers practical tips along with bits of food history. The book also clearly explains the ups and downs of dried pasta versus fresh, and all the methods for making it at home from scratch.