Pasta: The Beginner’s Guide

Have a passion for pasta? From spaghetti with mushroom sauce and fettuccine bolognese to lasagna, ravioli, and gnocchi of every type, this is the indispensable guide to preparing the most-loved food on the planet.

From fresh-from-scratch noodles to sauces to delicious fillings, Pasta offers recipes that are deliciously simple with easy-to-follow instructions for cooks of all skill levels. These are authentic recipes from renowned chef Carlo Lai that will surely tempt a wide-variety of diners and are easily concocted by even the most novice of cooks. Create to-die-for spaghetti carbonara, lasagna with salmon and zucchini, meat-stuffed tortellini, gnocchi gorgonzola, and much, much more. This is dining Italian-style . . . right at home. Buon Appetito

Milan, where the living is fast and the cooking takes time. That is where Carlo Lai was born. But it was in the kitchen where he actually grew up, helping his mother stir the minestrone and stuff the tortellini in their family restaurant. When he was sixteen, Carlo began his formal cooking studies. Choosing the warmer weather of Sardinia, his family moved and opened a new restaurant called El Cervelee de Milan (The Good Tastes of Milan) where they still make their own bread and fresh pasta every day and cook great Italian food with a Sardinian touch.