Reddit mentions: The best pasta & noodle cooking books

Men are like wine. Some turn to vinegar, but the best improve with age! ( I love how that sounds.)

1. I don't know about you, but look at all this nostalgic candy! 40 Different kinds, who wouldn't want this for their birthday!
   
   
2. This saved my sanity when my son was all colic-y
   
   
3. Does your Spouse-Creature cook? This could be great for cook outs!
   
   
4. Eight children?! Holy cow. This would help with keeping order and for teaching responsibility.
   
   
5. I wear the one of Saint Joseph of Arimathea. Keep it near his heart.
   
   
6. Lol, Puns.
   
   
7. I'd wear it as a cape and flaunt it. WOOOOOSH!
   
   
8. Signs for a man-cave if he has one. Little bit of nerdy decor.
   
   
9. I don't really have a father-figure nor fictional father in my life. But since SC (spouse creature) is a Superman fan, this would be perfect.
   
   
10. What could be a better combination than mac n cheese? Ultimate food, man.
    
    Bonus #1: 1980? The same year THIS movie came out: REDRUM!
    
    Bonus 2: Such a shot in the dark, but I like the name Marietta.
    
    Also, big points for you for calling your spouse a spouse creature. I call my boyfriend a creature all the time. <333
    
    Thanks so much for this, I really enjoyed having to think through a ton of the stuff.

As for starters, the Williams-Sonoma books are great collections of recipes in just about all categories... not always the easiest but they can start you out on the right path to making your own or altering recipes you can do..

Williams-sonoma books:

• Soups and Stews
  
• Salads
  
• Pasta
  
• Vegetables
  
• Soup
  
• Chicken
  
• Roasting
  
• Seafood
  
• Breakfast
  
  You can find all the rest of their books through those links, they have a ton, and a bunch of amazing recipes in them.. Most of their books also have great quality in the used form and some as low as .1 cent :D
  
  I have to agree with starting with Good Eats, it's a great base for ingredients and how to properly identify good ones and what to do with them. As well as Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Cooking course on youtube:
  
  Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Cooking Course season 1 episode 1
  
  ^ a great start for simple meals
  
  I collect cookbooks actually, and have a bunch of awesome recipes.. I made a homemade Tandoori chicken tonight, though i did not have the correct chili powder (kashmiri) it was delicious.. grilled a chicken up that i quartered and marinated for a bit. Delicious.. I also love Lebanese food and mostly all types of foreign foods.. I watch the Food Network quite regularly, as well as subscribe to quite a few youtube cooks..
  
  If there's anything you need to know feel free to ask :D

Okay, this recipe calls for cheese and fresh herbs, but you can improvise with dried herbs. I made this the other night and substituted a mix of dried rosemary and basil (since I didn't have enough rosemary). And the cheese is totally optional.

>This is a perfect example of a minimal-ingredient recipe that is delicious and easy. It’s based on one of the primary flavors in Italian cuisine: rosemary. You will often see rosemary used in flavoring meats and roasts, because it has such an intense and rich flavor. But in this recipe, cooked in some butter to release its aroma, it makes a perfect sauce for spaghetti. Be sure to top it with some grated cheese. This is a great dish!

>Serves 6

• Kosher salt
  
• 1 pound spaghettini
  
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  
• 2 bushy rosemary sprigs, needles stripped from the stems (about 3 tablespoons)
  
• 6 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
  
• 1 cup grated Grana Padano or Parmigiano-Reggiano
  
  >Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. When you begin preparing the sauce, begin cooking the pasta. In a large skillet, over medium-high heat, melt the butter in the olive oil. When the butter is melted, add the rosemary, and cook until the needles are sizzling and the rosemary is fragrant. Ladle in 1 cup of pasta water, and simmer to reduce by half. Stir in the parsley. When the pasta is al dente, remove with tongs directly to the skillet. Toss to coat the pasta with the sauce. Remove the skillet from the heat, toss with the grated cheese, and serve.
  
  From Lidia's Commonsense Italian Cooking.

These were cookbooks I found continually helpful while working at a fine-dining Italian place:

La Cucina: The Regional Cooking of Italy - 900 pages with a background on each recipe. Very helpful for research and creating dishes.

Encyclopedia of Pasta - Invaluable if you're doing fresh pasta. Provides a thorough explanation of each shape.

The Silver Spoon - a monster with 2000 recipes, but a great reference book. I think it claims to be Italy's oldest cookbook(?)...

I think these are a great starting point if you're in a serious kitchen - best of luck!

I don't have exact numbers to give, since I usually make pasta by hand (since it's all done by eye and feel), but this will get you started.

By the way, this is egg-less pasta. Adding eggs (and how many you add) all depends on what kind of pasta you're making (e.g. fresh pasta, stuffed pasta, lasagna, dried pasta, etc.). It also depends on your preference for the final texture and taste.

You can use eggs with dried pasta, but I like the taste and texture of just semolina and water, maybe some olive oil to give it some elasticity.

If you want to get into making pasta, go buy the Pasta Bible:

http://www.amazon.com/Pasta-Bible-Definitive-Sourcebook-Illustrations/dp/0785819096/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1309986216&sr=8-1

Anyways, I usually do 1/2 to 1 cup flour per person (and if you're adding eggs, it's 1 egg per person), so here it is:

• 1 cup semolina flour (medium or fine grain)
  
• 3-4 tablespoons water
  
• 1 tablespoon olive oil (sometimes I add it, sometimes I don't)
  
  (You can use AP flour instead, or 50/50 semolina and flour. I like to use just semolina, and then work in flour when I'm kneeding it).
  
  Anyways, dump the semolina on the counter. Make a well, add the water, and bring the dry semolina from the edges in on the water with a fork or your hands until the dough is pliable and slightly wet. I then put some flour on the counter and kneed until it comes together. Let the dough sit for 30-60 minutes (so the semolina can absorb the water), covered, directly on the counter. You can put it in the fridge to firm it up a bit if you want too. Then either roll it out by hand or use a pasta roller (that's what I use) to get your desired thickness. Cut with an attachment or by hand.
  
  To infuse your pasta, you always mix it with the water and strain (unless you want stuff in the pasta). I forgot to mention, I simmered the basil + water and tomato paste + water at 150 F for about 10 minutes, strained, and cooled it.
  
  The chili oil is simple too. Heat up a cup or so of canola or vegetable oil, add a LOT of red pepper flakes, and let it just sit in a jar. It's great for Asian cooking too.

I keep getting new cookbooks so I don't go back all that often, but here are my thoughts on my most recent additions.

1. Autentico by Rolando Beramendi (https://www.amazon.com/Autentico-Cooking-Italian-Authentic-Way/dp/1250124972): This is an "authentic" Italian cookbook that definitely will provide you with new recipes and ways of thinking of Italian cuisine. However, the drawback is the editing and binding leave a lot to be desired. For a number of recipes I've had to write in my own amounts (noticeably how much oil is called for, usually less is needed) and the binding makes it so the book will not lay flat and open to the desired page. My review: 2/5
   
2. Dinner: Changing the Game by Melissa Clark (https://www.amazon.com/Dinner-Changing-Game-Melissa-Clark/dp/0553448234): My favorite new cookbook for recipes, this seems to have family recipes in mind. I say that because it covers a variety of cuisines and blends a couple so if you purchase this, you won't become a one trick pony. My review: 4/5
   
3. French Cooking at Home by Marianne Magnier Moreno (https://www.amazon.com/French-Cooking-Marianne-Magnier-Moreno/dp/0062641077): A must have, this book is amazing from the recipes to the editing. The pictures are fantastic and for many recipes provide pictures of the various steps to help you along. A large portion of the book is dedicated to providing education on techniques from simply cutting a potato to making chicken ballotines. My review: 5/5
   
4. Lidia's Mastering the Art of Italian Cuisine by Lidia Matticchio Bastrianich (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/224734/lidias-mastering-the-art-of-italian-cuisine-by-lidia-matticchio-bastianich-and-tanya-bastianich-manuali/#): If you're looking for an Italian cookbook I couldn't recommend Lidia's more. It is filled with incredible recipes (both traditional and some things you'll find new) and educational material, but not quite as in depth as French Cooking at Home. It doesn't have any pictures inside which is disappointing, but either way it is an incredible book that you won't regret buying. My review: 4/5

Would you like a falafel with that? Depends on if you like falafel.

Anywho...I would suggest getting a Crock Pot such as this. That way you can make easy, cheap and healthy meals.

That and a Ramen Cookbook. The greatest thing we ever did was add things to "classy-up" our ramen. I love beef ramen with steak, soy sauce, raw bell peppers (for a nice crunch), steamed broccoli and sauteed mushrooms and onions. My husband likes his beef ramen with steak, hot sauce and hard boiled eggs.

I made some improvisations on it, but I mostly followed the recipes in the Ramen Fusion Cookbook. I'd definitely recommend the book to anyone who wants to learn to make great ramen at home. It has great pictures and step-by-step processes for noodles, stocks, and add-ins like menma and pork loin.

Love the idea!

Maybe add some cookbooks too. I love these two in particular for history, variety and recipes that consistently taste great.

Ramen Fusion

Ivan Ramen

Accessories

• Noodlestrainer or two is nice Noodle Strainer Example
  
• Ramen bowls (found some I like at Pier 1)
  
• Unique chopsticks /soup spoons
  
  Ingredients
  
• A block of high quality katsuobsushi + blade to shave (can find on amazon)
  
• Variety of soy sauces and sesame or chili oils (dark, light, mushroom etc.)
  
• High quality Kombu
  
• Gift card to Asian Market/grocery store for more ingredients
  
  
  
  I’m sure there are other items too but those are all things I’ve collected over time (except the katsuobushi- I just use the lower quality packets)
  
  What an awesome and creative gift though. I might borrow that idea sometime too!
  
  
  

Great post and well written. It's wonderful seeing someone really delve into the minutia of something they obviously truly enjoy.

Lately I've been inspired by this book, Flour + Water. If you haven't read it already I think you would enjoy.


http://www.amazon.com/Flour-Water-Pasta-Thomas-McNaughton/dp/1607744708/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421990040&sr=8-1&keywords=flour+water+eggs&pebp=1421990030463&peasin=1607744708

The ham is new to me for lasanga...I must try! Your layers are straight forward and now your making me want to try the same in my cast iron!!

Couldn't agree more on cast iron. My wife and I used to always cook on steel and teflon. Now we have 3 cast iron pans complete with lids and use them all the time!! Such a wonderful thing. Let's not forget these bad boys are great to cook with everywhere! We take them camping all the time. Tastes do improve and you get a workout to boot given the bigger pans are quite heavy :)

I'll be ordering Mastering Pasta: The Art and Practice of Handmade Pasta, Gnocchi, and Risotto https://www.amazon.com/dp/1607746077/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_5TD7xbWZYC9TZ to help me build the pasta skillz!

The Silver Spoon is like the Italian food bible - it is more like an encyclopedia than a cookbook.

But the one that I think you must have on your shelf is Giorgio Locatelli's Made In Italy. It's as much for the recipes as it is for the stories - you get such a sense of what food means to Italians and what a massive part of its culture food is. It's a cookbook you can happily read in bed. I love it.

I also picked up this on a recent trip to Bocca di Lupo and it's pretty special as well.

Love me some fresh pasta. Maybe make sure you are kneading it enough to make sure that it is thoroughly elastic? The "look inside" feature on Amazon of Flour and Water has some great different recipes. They're a bit yolk heavy, but that just makes it more rich and delicious.

The classic ratio is to use one egg per 100 grams of flour. This is what Marc Vetri suggests in his phenomenal Mastering Pasta.

Have you made fresh pasta before? I'd make yourself a couple small batches for practice before attempting your 10 cup dinner. I've been making pasta every week this year, and although I'm not great, I can assure you experience helps.

I started with that ratio and it works great, but now I eye ball everything. I toss flour onto the counter, crack an egg into the center, and start mixing. I add a extra flour as I go. It's easy to add more flour but tough to add moisture. Sometimes my apartment is really humid, sometimes the eggs are smaller, sometimes I use only yokes -- start with the rule of thumb, one egg per 100 grams of flour, and get used to working with the dough.

If you have more questions about making pasta I'd be happy to answer them. It's my favorite thing to cook and I'm obsessed!

I realize this is probably on the borderline of allowable in this sub but I guess I'll post it and see if people are okay with it. So with that said, I'm looking for books full of unusual uses of certain ingredients, unexpected flavor combinations and outside the box ideas. Basically, books that contain a lot of 'secret ingredients' I would never think of on my own but which take recipes to the next level?

I think my idea of exciting and new will be different from a lot of the hardcore foodies' here, but a few examples of recipes that have really struck me with their creativity:

Black pudding + sherry poultry stuffing, gingersnap biscuits for paté, apple juice in pea+ham soup, 'bloody Mary' beef, sauerkraut + pastrami mac+cheese.

A few of my favorite books for this sort of thing have been: Hog, Anna Mae's Mac and Cheese and also basically anything by Heston Blumenthal, though his recipes are far too advanced for me (and tend to require niche equipment).

Anyone?

Ramen to the Rescue Cookbook: 120 Creative Recipes for Easy Meals Using Everyone's Favorite Pack of Noodles

Williams and Sonoma has a great series of cook books called Food Made Fast Everything in them can be cooked up fairly easily and Williams and Sonoma is really good about exact techniques and all of their cook books have a small separate technique section that will explain certain things in depth.

My favorite cookbook (that is accessible to a home cook) is Flour+Water by Thomas McNaughton. It's a great book that not only explains the hows, but also the whys of pasta. I love it.

My mom gave me this book in paperback many, many moons ago. I definitely recommend James Beard's "Theory and Practice of Good Cooking." Such a wealth of knowledge contained in its pages.
https://www.amazon.com/Beards-Practice-Cooking-Library-American/dp/0762406135/ref=pd_aw_sim_sbs_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=FC15A8G2V2VQNPV62W99

this might be a good option, i have it on preorder so i can't say if it's good or not but brian macduckston is a boss so i don't see why it wouldn't be: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1623159164/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

ingredients i've had the hardest time sourcing in my city are actually dried fish that you can get on the internet so that could be rad. other than that as a home ramen cook i think i'd appreciate nice bowls more than anything

Someone gave me this as a gift and I love it. Has recipes for all kinds of different pastas, instructions for hand and mixer, very comprehensive. I refer to it frequently. https://www.amazon.com/Making-Artisan-Pasta-Handmade-Dumplings/dp/1592537324

Mastering Pasta by Marc Vetri has a chapter dedicated to semolina pasta. It focuses on extruding, but you can cook them fresh as well. There's also a recipe for gnocchi sardi which is made with semolina and always cooked fresh.

I would pretty much kill for this movie, but at 24 dollars its kind of pricy. :S I'd also be pretty stoked with this much more reasonably priced cookbook however.

Pretty soon you'll have gifted everybody on this sub!

>authentic, multi-regional Italian food.

Slight lol.

Consider a16 (own - can recommend); mastering pasta (also own, can also recommend but maybe a little less).

The reason for the LOL is that that sicilian food is so different from neapolitan, and that from venetian, that there is no one cookbook.

I'd recommend focusing on one region at a time - there are lot of them - and going seasonal where you (she) can.

I can't recommend Good Eats enough as a basic primer for what is happening during a cooking process. It is that somewhat deeper level of understanding of the concepts that drive the process, not the process itself, that will enable more improvisation in the future. It's a good place to start.

Jame's Beard's Theory and Practice is a nice reference with A LOT of information. It's pretty academic, or at least very dry though, so it may not be for everyone.

America's Test Kitchen, as others have also said, is nice as well because it does give you some tips for why they do what they do in each recipe.

My best advice is to cook a lot of recipes verbatim until you get your feet under you, so to speak. You'll find that by the time you've tried four or five versions of a recipe for a certain dish, you'll be able to improvise with pretty decent success because you've seen what the recipes have in common, what's different, and where there is room for play.

Having said that, you have to remember that a recipe in a cookbook or on a restaurant menu has been tested A LOT of times, undoubtedly with some failures. Now, those failures may not have been as spectacularly inedible as the average home cook's failures, but that's simply because those chefs or cookbook editors have more experience.

Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:


amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

amazon.com.au

amazon.in

amazon.com.mx

amazon.de

amazon.it

amazon.es

amazon.com.br

amazon.nl

amazon.co.jp

amazon.fr

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I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, amazon.de, amazon.it, amazon.es, amazon.com.br, amazon.nl, amazon.co.jp, amazon.fr, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.

In my opinion it's way easier to make ravioli from the sheets, you can buy him this fancy crinkle cutting wheel and a pasta making book! I recommend Mastering Pasta and Flour + Water Pasta.

I have this book. It's alright, I think I wanted something with more exotic shaping guides, but the internet has been good for that.

Hmm, well it's always good to really get your name out there when looking for work, I sent my resume to a shitload of different places before I got here. If that doesn't work, there's this great book you may like...

This isn't the 365 days version (which for some reason I can't find online...) but it's a good starter.

Seriously, it's the best! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1607746077/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I know you've already got a ton of suggestions but, I highly recommend this book

Mastering Pasta by Marc Vetri

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1607746077/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484998931&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=mastering+pasta&dpPl=1&dpID=61FMdoMqdnL&ref=plSrch

Ramen my friend

https://www.amazon.com/Ways-Make-Ramen-Noodles-Cookbook/dp/0962633526

James Beard's Theory and Practice of Good Cooking.

Can't speak to the others.

They also have a nifty little book full of Top Ramen recipes

just like to say Flour + Water is the quintessential pasta cookbook.

I do not have an exhaustive list, but I did learn a thing or two about shapes I'd never heard of in this book.

How about a book?

https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Pasta-Practice-Handmade-Gnocchi/dp/1607746077/

Recipe loosely taken from Flour + Water

Not sure where you live, but here I can buy 1lb of 'seasoned shredded beef' in a container for about 6 bucks, a bag of russet potatos for a couple of bucks, and some cheese. These go a long way, potato + some cheese + some meat. Fried egg sandwiches (fried egg, w/ a sliced of american cheese on some cheap whole wheat bread), http://www.amazon.com/Hundred-Ways-Make-Ramen-Noodles/dp/0962633526 , these are some of the things that sustained me during those lean years of my youth.

i have been there before. try this hint you can find the ebook torrent for free. also eggs, sirracha, sesame oil, and any type of veggies will bulk up that ramen. sorry if i came off as a dick

Flour + Water. It's mostly pasta, but it's broken down by season. I'd highly recommend the book, and the restaurant if you're ever in San Francisco.

I feel awkward that this is on my bedside table.

I'd focus on technique, not specific recipes from different cookbooks. I tend to read cookbooks from cover to cover as if they're novels, but I rarely actually cook from them. Learning techniques will allow you to throw together anything that's in your fridge or on sale at the grocery store. Plus, cookbooks use tons of ingredients, whereas most nights I only use protein, salt, fat, seasonal veggies, and wine (I am lazy and not about to go to three grocery stores to buy a ton of ingredients that will only go bad in the fridge).

It's not in print anymore, but I feel that the only cookery book anyone really needs is Jame's Beard's Theory and Practice of Good Cooking.

Wet cooking techniques to learn:

• Boil
  
• Braise
  
• Steam
  
  Dry cooking techniques to learn:
  
  
• Sauté
  
• Roast/bake
  
• Pan roast
  
• Deep fry/confit
  
  Knife skills to learn:
  
  
• Dice
  
• Mince
  
• Julienne
  
  A few basic preparations:
  
  
• Roast Chicken
  
• Steak
  
• Chicken Stock
  
• Scrambled Eggs
  
• Pan Sauce
  
• Mayonnaise
  
• Vinaigrette