Book Details

	100 Ways to Be Pasta: Perfect Pasta Recipes from Gangivecchio By: Tornabene, Giovanna; Tornabene, Wanda Published By: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group PDF for Digital Editions Price: $24.95 Mobipocket Reader Price: $24.95 Microsoft Reader Price: $24.95 PDF for Digital EditionsMobipocket ReaderMicrosoft Reader	EBOOK OPTIONS ADD TO CART ADD TO WISHLIST TELL A FRIEND RECEIVE ALERTS
	For us, pasta is more than just a food. It is part of our histories. It is a good friend, a member of the family. It is something we love . . . When Italians offer a plate of pasta to friends or strangers, we are opening the doors of our homes and welcoming them inside in the most generous way. It is in that spirit that my mamma and I, who have had the good fortune to be accompanied all our lives by this most versatile of foods, invite you through the tall, ancient wooden doors of Gangivecchio and offer up these recipes, these one hundred versions of the golden strands, the god, pasta, to you. So put the water on to boil. And buon appetito! —Giovanna Tornabene, from her Introduction Welcome back to Gangivecchio, where Wanda and Giovanna Tornabene, two-time James Beard Award winners and beloved doyennes of the Italian kitchen, have served up another irresistible helping of charm, wit, and culinary wisdom from the kitchen of the thirteenth-century abbey they call home. This time around, the dynamic mother-daughter duo takes us back to Sicilian basics, in a recipe-filled compendium and heartfelt tribute to the “queen of the Italian table”—pasta. In 100 Ways to Be Pasta the Tornabenes once again weave memoir and history together with the vivid flavors of local village life, bringing us a true taste of Sicilian culture and cuisine. They incorporate lessons from basic pasta-cooking techniques to secret tips from old masters, and include an extensive glossary of pasta vocabulary, a dictionary of pasta types, and of course a generous sprinkling of anecdotes and advice. All of this serves as a delightful setting for the one hundred authentic, mouth-watering recipes, lovingly honed and perfected in the old abbey kitchen. From quick, easy basics, like spaghetti with garlic, oil, and hot pepper or farfalle with peas and prosciutto, to traditional pasta soups like minestrone, to more elaborate baked and stuffed pastas like Baked Orecchiette with Lamb Ragù and Melted Mozzarella or Baked Timbale of Anelletti with Veal and Vegetables, each recipe serves up a little piece of Sicily for your very own kitchen. As informative and useful to the beginner as to the experienced Italian cook, 100 Ways to Be Pasta is a must-have and a treasure for any cookbook shelf. From the Hardcover edition.

Excerpt

Paolo's Pennette with Fresh Figs and Pancetta
Pennette con Fichi e Pancetta di Paolo
Serves 6

This is a recipe my brother invented, inspired from the fact that every day during the fall he walks out of his apartment at Gangivecchio to see the tons of fresh figs that have dropped off the two giant trees in the center of our courtyard. It's nice to serve this pasta with an additional whole fig, cut in quarters so that it opens like a flower with the contrast of the green peel and the red condimento.


1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 medium white onion, finely chopped
1/4 pound pancetta (or bacon), cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 pounds fresh figs, peeled and diced
1/2 cup dry red wine
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound pennette
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese


1. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat until is is hot but not smoking. Add the onions and saute for a few minutes until they begin to soften. Add the pancetta and cook until the pancetta and the onions are golden brown, 7 to 10 minutes. Add the figs and the wine and simmer just to soften the figs, about 5 minutes; don't cook the figs so long that they fall apart completely. Season with salt and pepper to taste and turn off the heat.

2. Meanwhile, bring a big saucepan of water to boil. Stir in a small fistful of salt and the pennette and cook until it is tender. Reserve a cupful of the pasta water and drain the pasta in a colander.

3. Quickly transfer the pasta to the pan with the figs and place over high heat. Add a splash of pasta water, stir gently to mix the condimento and pasta together, and saute for 2 to 3 minutes, adding more pasta water if the pasta is dry or sticky. Serve hot with freshly grated Parmesan cheese at the table.


From the Hardcover edition.

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