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Occasionally, I will create a dish in which I cook pasta directly in the sauce. The sauce is usually pretty brothy to start out with but the starch from the pasta converts it into a rich, creamy sauce. It's a technique that I've never seen in a recipe book or described anywhere but it makes a lot of sense to me. Does anyone else do this? What are some great applications?

I've been fooling around more often with homemade pasta lately, and I've been trying my hand at making different pasta shapes. I'm no expert at all, and I'm hoping that others can chime in with ideas and photos of techniques. Besides long shapes like tagliatelle and linguini, the two shapes that I have been making are farfalle and orecchiette, and I documented the exceptionally easy and forgiving orecchiette below. I always use the dough from the eGCI course on stuffed pasta: 400g ‘00’ flour 4 large eggs 1 additional egg yolk 1 tablespoon olive oil pinch of salt Once the dough rested, I rolled it out two about 1/2" and then cut it into strips about the same width. Then I rolled the strips into tubes. I then cut the tubes into small bits: Then, one at a time, I'd center them on my thumb: Push them down: The pull them slightly to release: Halfway there: The whole batch: After cooking in well-salted water and draining them, I sautéed them with some cavola nero, onions, sausage, and S&P: I'm sure others have a broader repertoire of shapes than I do. I've never tried strozzapreti, for example, and would appreciate a tutorial. The examples I've seen on the internet must make shapes the length and thickness of a large carrot.

How do you all compute pasta serving sizes?

(Please forgive the double post if you've already read this on Chowhound.) I'd appreciate your help in tracking down old-fashioned NYC Italian bread. I'm about to make a New Orleans bread pudding, which calls for traditional New Orleans French bread. NOLA French bread is thin-crusted, and has a light, airy crumb. When I moved to NYC in 1970, I used to make this recipe with NYC Italian loaves. While not as light as New Orleans French, Italian bread was a credible stand-in. Most importantly, the crust (sometimes sprinkled with sesame seeds) was neither too thick nor too chewy. Thick, chewy crusts or a chewy crumb make for a dense, heavy pudding. Do any Manhattan bakeries still sell old-fashioned Italian bread? It used to be everywhere, but I haven't seen it in ages. Crusty "artisan" breads are easy to find, but I'm searching for a lighter, humbler loaf. Thanks for the help.

Is there such a think anymore as an Italian bakery that bakes without shortening? If so, I would like to check them out on my upcoming visit to the city. I will be staying in the Financial District but will travel anywhere for a really great Italian bakery that doesn't use shortening. Specifically, I am looking for places that make all butter or butter/lard sfogliatelle. I assume that if bakeries in NYC use lard it is non-hydrogenated lard? Doesn't even have to be an Italian bakery. Really my search is for sfogliatelle so if there are notable ones in non-Italian bakeries I would love to find them.

My own recipe, though influenced by many sources. Santucci's Practical Torrone (Christmas Nougat) 180g honey (½ cup) 100g egg whites (2 eggs) 350g sugar (1 ½ cups) 50g water (2 tablespoons) 450g (1 pound) roasted nuts 5-10 drops orange oil 2 sheets (8 ½” x 11”) Ostia (aka wafer, edible paper) Combine honey, water, and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Skim foam (if any is seen) off the honey when it reaches the boil. In a stand mixer, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Cook the honey mixture to 280° F (137° C). Remove from the heat. With the mixer on high speed, slowly pour the mixture into the egg whites. Continue to whisk until volume has increased by about half and the mixture just starts to lose gloss – only about 5 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed and add the orange oil and nuts. When they are thoroughly mixed in, spread the resulting nougat over a sheet of Ostia. Try to cover the sheet as evenly as possible- the nougat is sticky and will make things difficult. When it is evenly covered, top with the other sheet of Ostia. Leave to cool and crystallize completely in the open air before cutting, preferably overnight. Note: I call this 'practical' Torrone because the recipe is made for home confectioners of reasonable skill to be able to easily understand what and how much to buy and what to do with it. The ingredient portions are biased for my country, the USA, but I saw no point in using English ounces for the weight-based version – those of us who prefer weight generally prefer it in grams. Tips and tricks: 1.Keep nuts in a warm oven ( about 150° F / 65° C ) until you add them. Adding room temperature or colder nuts will reduce working time. 2.Getting the nougat spread between sheets of Ostia is the trickiest part of the process. I use buttered caramel rulers on the outside edges of the bottom sheet, pour and press nougat in place, and then press the top layer on with an offset spatula. If you don't have caramel rulers, try spreading the nougat with an offset spatula, topping with the other sheet, and rolling with a pin to smooth. I advise against trying to cast the slab in any kind of fixed side pan, as the stickiness will make it very difficult to remove. 3.Score the top layer of Ostia before cutting through. Once scored, a straight down cut with a Chef's knife works well. Cut into six 8 1/2” long bars and wrap in parchment or waxed paper to store, then cut into smaller rectangles to serve. 4.There are many possible alternate flavorings. 1-10 Lemon oil or 1 t. (5 ml) vanilla or almond extract work well and are traditional flavors. Candied orange peel and/or orange zest can also be added. 5.I use half pistachio and half almonds as the nuts. Hazelnuts (filberts) are also traditional. Any common nut should work. 6.Ostia is available from confectionery suppliers. I get 8-1/2” x 11” sheets from www.sugarcraft.com under the name 'wafer paper'. This recipe is copyright 2009 by Patrick J. Santucci. Contact the author on eGullet under the username psantucc.

We're heading off next week to a big gathering of friends in a house in the South of Le Marche, on the edge of the Sibillini mountains. I've volunteered to be one of the cooks. Is anyone familiar with the region at this time of year? Would absolutely love any tips on exciting seasonal treats that we should be making a beeline for in the markets, or favourite recipes involving local ingredients. I'm feeling hungry already...

I've been doing an exhaustive review of my notes and maps because I can't remember or find reference to a great restaurant/wine bar we went to last year. We had drinks and salami, Italian themed, long room with a long bench in the back beyond the tables, with wines by the glass listed on a black board in chalk. I thought it was in the East Village more or less. Visits to NY Mag and Metromix haven't jogged any memories. If anyone knows this place, could you let me know? Otherwise, I'll take recommendations for great wine bars in that area. I've enjoyed the deep Italian wine selections at 'inoteca, liked the knowledgeable bartenders at Terroir and have heard good things about Ten Bells. I'll be hitting up Chambers St. Wine on this trip and love to talk (and drink) wine. Any suggestions? Thanks!

I've got on the order of 40 old-growth cherry trees (read: 50 feet, not yr standard orchard tree). It's that time of year, and I'm trying to preserve the fruit (the low-hanging stuff that I can reach, anyway). The consorzi (ag coops), as well as the supermarkets here all seem to sell a really shitty canning arrangement: glass jar (duh) + integrated cap. I'm worried that it's faulty. Here's why: Last summer in the U.S., I processed 500 lb. of tomatoes using Mason jars. When the jars went into the water bath, they happily gave up their air, tiny bubbles nesting around the jars. My understanding is that you need to drive out the air and create an anaerobic environment. The product held A1 over time. With the Italian jars, I see niente on the bubble front. I'm wondering if they're working. You can't even really screw the lids down hard, like with a Mason or Ball jar. It's a quarter turn at most, then basta. I'm sterlizing the jars and then throwing the lids in for a couple of minutes to soften the ring. I'm doing hot pack for pitted cherries (fyi: 1.5 kg cleaned cherries yields 3 250-ml jars: saints preserve us!) and cold pack for whole cherries. The cold pack's already looking suspect. Anyone had any experience with Italian jars?

I was wondering if someone could help, i made 16 lemon meringue pies for the tournament supper using Italian meringue as usual, and this time it was weepy and not staying in place. Any thoughts as to why, and could the humidity in the walkin have something to do with it? thanks

My lucky younger sister got to travel for a few weeks in Italy last summer and fell in love with the pizza. Now she wants me to take her somewhere in LA where she can relive the experience she had in Piacenza. I've already made it clear that wherever I take her will obviously not be 100%, but I'd do my best to get "as close to authentic" I could possibly do. Other then Antica in LB, is there anywhere else I could take her?

I am going to be able to attend again this year. We will be making side trips to Glorioso's Market and Sciortinos Bakery in Milwaukee. Has anyone ever attended?

Tomato Sauce, Red Sauce, Pasta Sauce, Marinara, Gravy (if you're super Sicilian), whatever you want to call it, I often find myself with nothing but canned tomato sauce (sometimes the odd can of whole/diced tomatoes or paste) and dried herbs. I can make some really stellar sauces with fresh ingredients (My marinara has like 5 ingredients and it's ridiculously good), but I'm trying to figure out an acceptable alternative when I'm broke and/or lazy. I'm looking for variations with dried herbs and spices, possibly even up to the point of nothing fresh. And before I get the onslaught of "that's culinary blasphemy!" and the like, please note that I am an actual working chef and I do know the difference between "pasta sauce" and marinara" etc., but in general I really only use dried herbs (oregano, specifically) when making pizza sauce and I just want to find something I can make and stash in the fridge or freezer to have on hand when I get hungry and either don't want to spend a lot of time preparing anything or just don't have the ingredients in the house. Just for the record, I tend to stick to a pretty much tomato, onion and garlic (generally just seasoned with salt, pepper and fresh basil) based sauce, but I welcome the addition of mire poix and carrots and sugar and all that jazz. Not looking for a culinary masterpiece here. Not looking for anything "authentic". Just something good. Thanks in advance. Edit: On a side note, I make a pretty common sauce in terms of consistency and flavor profiles, but when I was young, my grandfather and father (both Sicilian), made a very thin sauce, probably just with tomato sauce (no whole/diced/puree, etc.) and the only other ingredient I remember is bay leaf, for some reason. I've tried looking for something similar but to no avail. Any help in this area would be appreciated as well. Thanks.

Seeking recommendations for a week-long cooking class (prefer Italian). Asking on behalf of a dear friend and her daughter. Daughter is leaving for college in the fall and this will be a last hurrah for the two of them before the daughter leaves for school. Prefer a major US city. Thanks for any suggestions!

Hello NYC egulleteers, I am looking for a recommendation for week-long cooking class (prefer Italian) in NYC for a dear friend and her daughter. Daughter is leaving for college in the fall and this will be a last hurrah for the two of them before the daughter leaves for school. Thanks for any suggestions!

I made it this weekend to the Distinti Salumi festival in Cagli. Had I been more aware of its breadth, I would have posted an alert. In addition to the multitude of vendors, there were talks, exhibits, and related events. There were also four tasting rooms set up, one each for salumi interi, cotti, crudi and particolari. Great handouts and signage. It was just a really well done festival. There was an unbelievable bounty. I took home lots of fat – a creamy lardo macellato from Lecce, herby pestàt from Fagagna in Friuli, and a beautiful piece of lardo di colonnata from, well, Colonnata (so now I know that Colonnata is a place, not a style -- I usually see it without the "di"; the vendor had a great book showing the traditional vessels used to make the lardo). Plus a nice hunk of guanciale from a local Cagli producer, lamb salame from Holland, and a spicy, chunky bad boy from Abruzzo. Diverse selection of cheeses (mostly pecorino), too. I bought a piece of delicious pecorino trombaitolo, which the Puglian vendor had enticingly labelled the "viagra di una volta". Also various grilled meats. I had some very slow-cooked cinta senese from a local farmer that was unbelievable: just about the opposite of porchetta, it was soft as butter and virtually unspiced. Berkel had a display of restored slicers from the early 1900s. And then there was the exhibit "Women and Pigs". If only the photographer would have found a way to include my other two food groups: cigarettes and gin . . . (glossy format made for fuzzy pix). Cagli's a picturesque town, and the surrounding countryside is beautiful. It's worth the trip. I'll try to remember to post a reminder for next year's fest.

is there a better restaurant than Band B at the Venetian for upscale italian,?

The dried-pasta tastings I've read about in the past, such as the ones performed by Cook's Illustrated, have never struck me as particularly credible. But New York Magazine recently put together a tasting at the International Culinary Center that seems, on the face of it, to be the best of its kind done to date. The tasters were Marco Canora of Insieme, Hearth, and Terroir; Mark Ladner of Del Posto; and Cesare Casella of Salumeria Rosi; and they tasted the pasta both plain and dressed. When I heard about this tasting, I thought for sure, finally, this would prove the superiority of imported artisanal dried pasta. Trader Joe's won.

Although the food is a central reason we decided to take our honeymoon in Italy, I've been delinquent in planning our meals. We leave this Tuesday the 28th so time is of the essence. I do have a few good recs for Rome, but always happy to hear more. The other destinations are an open book. Give me your best ideas from grand dining to hidden countryside gems to street fare. In addition to restaurants themselves I'm also looking for suggestions on particular dishes or food items I should seek out and where to do it, wine experiences, in home dining, and cooking schools.

It being spring, and the asparagus and peas at the farmers market looking particularly good the last couple weeks, I've been playing around with "pasta primavera." I'm not using any kind of recipe, nor am I looking for the most "authentic Italian" version, I'm just looking for how others make theirs. Last week's I made like an Alfredo, but with added sauteed peas and asparagus. Tonight I gently sauteed the peas, asparagus, and some sugar snap peas as well in some nice olive oil, then gave it a squeeze of lemon, a hit of garlic, some more olive oil, and tossed it with some linguini and parmesan. Bother versions were good but not great. Tonight's showed promise, but I think needed more lemon and maybe some black pepper. What's next? Do you have a go-to recipe? Any other thoughts for pasta/noodle dishes that incorporate our springtime harvests?

Anybody else's family make these? We make then on Holy Thursday every year. We roll out the dough into rounds, then stuff with a filling of basket cheese, romano cheese, pepperoni and eggs. Roll the dough into a half moon, brush with egg yolks and bake. We also make varieties with prosciutto instead of pepperoni and ones with crabmeat or shrimp so we can eat those ones on Good Friday.

Welcome to the Italy: Cooking and Baking forum! This forum has a number of great resources for members, whether you're a novice or an expert. One of those resources is our online culinary academy, the eGullet Culinary Institute. Please take some time to look through the topics presented here and feel free to attend the course that interests you. Pasta Around the Mediterranean Course and Q&A Stuffed Pastas Introduction, Course on Pansotti, Tortelloni and and Raviolo, Course on Tortelli, Ravioli & Cappelletti, and Q&A Risotto Course and Q&A

I've been reading in Culinaria Italy and came across images of hand extruded pasta. They use a tool that's basically a brass pipe, a screw plunger part and a bottom with exchangeable bottom plates with different hole sizes. The pasta they show looks amazing, tiny little "thorns" opeining away from the main strand (like a very prickly rose stem) that I'm sure will hold great amounts of sauce, very different from pasta cut with a pasta machine. Now, I'm not ready to plop down a couple hundred for the Italian machine (called a bigolaro) as pretty as they are, nor a couple thousand for an electric machine. Some stand mixers seem to have extruder attachments, do those work well? Like most of those attachments they seem rather small and toy like. I don't have a stand mixer, so I can't try that. Would my meat grinder work? I might just try that. Or the sausage stuffer? Would it be worth the trouble to try? Curious if anybody here makes both or decided for one of the other. It wold be nice to make macaroni and others with holes in them I guess. Opinions? Oliver

Hi all, I'm posting for a friend whose living in Rome. Anyone know where to find fresh lemongrass? Thanks!

I'm a long-time consumer of DeCecco pasta, not because I think it's the world's best pasta (brands like Setaro are markedly better) but because it's the best affordable pasta available at the market where I do my regular shopping. A year or so ago a new species of DeCecco pasta in ugly green boxes started to appear -- an organic line. They make it in very few shapes and the supply, at least where I shop, is inconsistent. But it is so much better than regular DeCecco. To my novice pasta palate, it tastes like the expensive imports that cost $5.99 a bag. I'm guessing the reason it's better is that the flour has not been tampered with by enriching it with niacin and all that (it likely has nothing to do with it being organic, which would probably not affect flavor or texture). Does anybody else have experiences and observations about this product?