Pasta for All Seasons by Michela Tartaglia

Pasta for All Seasons

by Michela Tartaglia

Authentic Italian flavors and cooking techniques join forces with seasonal, regional ingredients for a delicious and deceptively simple collection of 50 pasta dishes for vegetarians, meat-lovers, and pescatarians alike.

Fresh ingredients, fresh pasta, innovative dishes. What’s not to like? Rising Seattle chef Michela Tartaglia has developed 50 seasonal recipes that showcase the best of Northwest seafood, produce, and meat in creative, deeply satisfying pasta dishes. 

Using favorite ingredients such as salmon and clams and foodie favorites like nettles and chanterelles, this book offers home cooks dishes that are as comforting as a favorite spaghetti or fettucine dish but as bold and exciting as a hot new restaurant entrée. In addition, a pasta primer helps home cooks make fresh pasta at home and choose the right pasta shape for the right sauce or dish.

Recipes include:
• Conchiglie Rigate with Pacific Northwest Wild Fiddlehead Fern, Leek, and Walnut Pesto, Fiore Sardo, and Aleppo Pepper
• Orecchiette with Pacific Northwest Spot Prawns, Purple Asparagus, and Lemon
• Pipe with Pacific Northwest Morels, Pancetta, Walnuts, Ricotta, and Saffron
• Bucatini all'Amatriciana with Billy's Heirloom Tomatoes
• Creste di Gallo with Eggplant, ’Nduja, Supersweet Tomatoes, and Ricotta Salata
• Pappardelle with Golden Chanterelles, Sausage, and Thyme
• Spaghettoni with Red Beet Pesto, Burrata, Basil, and Calabrian Chili Oil
• Rigatoni with Pacific Northwest Elk Ragú, Juniper Berries, and Bay Leaves
• Casarecce with Pacific Northwest Manila Clams, Chickpeas, and Cherry Tomatoes
• Lasagna Casalinga: Lasagna from the Forest

This collection of creative yet accessible recipes will up your pasta game all year long. Buon appetito!

Reviewed by annieb123 on

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Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Pasta for All Seasons is an attractive and well written cookbook with recipes written and curated by Michela Tartaglia. Released 25th April 2023 by Penguin Random House on their Sasquatch Books imprint, it's 176 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats. 

This is a nice fusion of well written traditional regional Italian pasta which also utilizes and celebrates local ingredients from the Pacific Northwest. Recipes are arranged thematically by season: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. 

Recipes include background/introduction, ingredients in a bullet list sidebar, and step-by-step preparation instructions. Ingredient measurements are provided in Imperial (American) units only. Most ingredients will be readily available at any large/well stocked grocery store. Some recipes in the collection will require specialty pastas, mushrooms, meats and shellfish which will need specialty sources. 

The book is wonderfully photographed throughout with one or more photos for each recipe, but not all all show the completed dish. Serving suggestions are attractive and appropriate and the dishes are professionally styled. These recipes are advanced and nuanced and will require some expertise, but should be within the capabilities of a keen home cook/foodie. 

The author/publisher have also included a cross-referenced index and resource list for some ingredients. 

Four and a half stars. This is a beautifully written specialty cookbook with attractive (very fancy/trendy) dishes virtually guaranteed to impress and delight a foodie's heart. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes. 

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Reading updates

  • 30 July, 2023: Started reading
  • 30 July, 2023: Finished reading
  • 30 July, 2023: Reviewed