From the famed author of Under the Tuscan Sun , the most delicious Tuscan pasta recipes that can be made in the time it takes to b oil water and for the pasta to cook

Frances Mayes is known for transporting readers to the charming Italian countryside in her bestselling books. In Pasta Veloce , Mayes and veteran food editor Susan Wyler take us there us by sharing 100 under 30-minute pasta recipes, inspired by their time in Italy. These well-loved recipes blend traditional Italian technique with magic from the Mayes and Wyler home kitchens where experiments are always in progress.

Pasta is the most versatile food on earth. And if you do it fast! Pasta Veloce offers a multitude of under 30-minute, luscious recipes, all accompanied by Mayes’s evocative text. While there are numerous pasta cookbooks, few feature a true Italophile’s passion and eye for detail that can get a dish to the table in, as Mayes describes, “the time it takes to boil water.” From a Tagliatelle with Duck Confit, Chestnuts, and Coffee Reduction to a glittering Capellini with Golden Caviar to the perfect vodka sauce, Pasta Veloce is your guide on those nights when you’re ready to skip the whole production of it but still want to eat like royalty in a rustic Italian village.

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Review

This is an amazing pasta cookbook! Pasta is a dish that is easy to make inexpensively. This book includes so many wonderful dishes, and I can’t wait to try them all. There aren’t many over-the-top ingredients, and most you can find at your local store. You can swap pasta depending on what it calls for and what you have on hand, but there is usually a good reason for the specific pasta they use in the recipes. There is a wonderful pasta pantry section that includes an image of what the pasta looks like and a description. You will also find multiple pesto recipes at the end to top your favorite pasta. I have a feeling this is one I will utilize quite often, especially with men in the house that eat a lot.

I have tried two dishes so far and have comments about both on what could be done better. The first recipe I made was the Spaghetti with Filet Mignon and herbed Balsalmic Onions. This recipe calls for three red onions. That is a LOT of onion! I think I used two smaller red onions. I also used angel hair pasta since that is what I had on hand. I would not add the pasta and the reserved pasta water to the onion/sauce mixture until right before serving. The pasta absorbed more of the sauce/liquid than I would have liked. Don’t get me wrong; it was still very delicious!

The next dish I made was the Fusilli with Sausage, Sun Dried Tomatoes, Spinach, and Pine Nuts. This was also quite yummy but needed a little something extra. Perhaps some more seasonings. I also used fresh spinach vs. frozen, and I can’t remember what pasta I used, but I don’t think it was fusilli. There isn’t really a sauce per se, and I think it needed one. This is before it was dished up, so you don’t see the grated cheese we added to the top.

About the Authors

Frances Mayes is the international bestselling author of Under the Tuscan Sun and The Tuscan Sun Cookbook. The award-winning movie by the same title was based on her memoir. She is also the author of A Year in the World, Bella Tuscany, Every Day in Tuscany, Women in Sunlight, and Bringing Tuscany Home, among others. She and her husband divide their time between North Carolina and Tuscany.

Susan Wyler is a cookbook editor, the author of Cooking for a Crowd and Cooking from a Country Farmhouse, and a former food editor at Food & Wine magazine. She lives in Hillsborough, North Carolina. Steven Rothfeld is a photographer whose work appears in The Tuscan Sun Cookbook, Bringing Tuscany Home, and Simply French. He lives in Napa Valley, California.