Italian Gourmet enriches its iTecnici series with a volume completely dedicated to fresh pasta, edited by Allan Bay, with techniques and recipes by Elio Sironi.
288 pages that explore the many types of fresh pasta, from the most traditional, with or without egg, to the "extra-ordinary", aromatic, colorful and innovative. All accompanied by basic recipes and practical application with dishes divided by type, "Italian" or fusion, as in the best Sironi tradition.
"If it is true that gold constitutes a large part of the wealth of the world, fresh pasta constitutes a large part of its happiness", this is how the volume "La Pasta Fresca" begins and it is dedicated to all the declinations of fresh pasta. An excursus of 8 sections, plus the technical introduction, and 180 recipes that go well beyond the concept of egg pasta, tickling the creative fantasy of the reader.
Pici, tonnarelli, mafaldine, but also fettuccine, reginette and scialatielli, not only in the "traditional way", but made with "new" ingredients, from aromatic to colored pasta, with the discovery of shapes and textures outside the usual paths.
Elio Sironi accompanies us into a world made of alternative ingredients and creative tastes and expresses in his recipes the best of his cuisine with an international imprinting, made of local tradition and contamination.
The book opens with an introductory chapter on the "tools of the trade" where the uses and merits of the mixer, pastry board, rolling pin and sheeter, pasta knife, die and press are revealed, and where processing, preservation and formats are discussed, based on the peculiar characteristics of each type.
Eight different sections follow, accompanied by basic recipes and interpretations of flavor, all designed for 4 people.
The reader will find not only the basics for preparing fresh pasta, but also many ideas for making appealing and tasty recipes.
The book starts with "Le Paste all'uovo", the great classic, in a riot of lasagna, cannelloni, tajarin, plin and ravioli, but also noodles and tortelli, and moves on to "Pasta all'uovo con acqua e altri liquidi" (Egg pasta with water and other liquids) and "Pasta all'acqua o con altri liquidi" (Water pasta or with other liquids), each with recipes based on the type of dough: there are egg pasta with milk and water pasta or pasta with wild herb juice, obviously in all shapes from tagliolini to dumplings, with inspirational recipes.
An entire chapter is dedicated to colored pastas, in a riot of colors, from green to yellow, including red, pink, black and blue, which leads to the chapter on "Multicolored, Decorated and Printed Pastas" where it is explained step by step how to color pasta in the most scenic ways, striped, polka-dotted, checkered, completed with 13 recipes... in all colors.
The chapter on "Le Paste Aromatiche" (Aromatic Pastas) unveils the secrets of the combination of shape and taste, with different shapes and innovative flavors: pumpkin and mace, lemon and rosemary, coffee or chocolate: 15 different variants for 17 recipes.
The book closes with "Le pasta con farine speciali" (Pastas made with special flours), which includes all the "alternative" flours, such as soy, carrot, corn, and ancient grains, as well as the "Invece della pasta fresca" (Instead of fresh pasta), that is, the traditional types of pasta that run through Italy from North to South, with the rhythms of Spätzle, malfatti, blinis, passatelli, crespelle and orecchiette, and reawakened by Sironi's skilful flair.
A book that leads us to discover all the variables of one of the great classics of Italian cuisine (but not only!) and in which Elio Sironi explains with simplicity techniques and procedures, in an inspiration halfway between the tradition of the Bel Paese and the most diverse cultures.
