"Six Seasons of Pasta: A New Way with Everyone's Favorite Food" by Joshua McFadden and Martha Holmberg

[blue_dolphin]

Six Seasons of Pasta: A New Way with Everyone's Favorite Food (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) by Joshua McFadden and Martha Holmberg was published last week. I received my copy, have given it a good once over, cooked one of the recipes and have a bunch more marked to try.  

The book opens with a dried pasta primer and discussion of his decision to use dried pasta exclusively in the book. The recipes offer a range of interesting ingredient combinations but he also devotes space to “how to” pages for dressing pasta with the basic pestos, flavored butters and whipped ricotta that appear in the front of the book.  There are similar sections for using ragus, making baked pasta dishes and pasta salads so the reader can build on the basics with their own recipes. After the basic sauces, the recipes are organized by season, similar to Six Seasons. Plenty of meat and seafood are used. It’s not a vegetarian cookbook but I think that cooking with vegetables is really McFadden's strength.  In reading through, I thought some of the dishes would be delicious without the pasta, just adding more vegetables. 
 

With a few exceptions, the pasta recipes serve 2-4, depending on how hearty or rich they are.  The ragu recipes tend to make enough for 8-12 servings, and he recommends freezing them in portions appropriate for one meal. 
 

There's one recipe for a Caesar salad and one for garlic bread but other than that, it’s all pasta. 
 

I’ve got several pasta cookbooks that focus on making fresh pasta, so I’m fine with the dry pasta focus. I’m also quite capable of concocting my own pasta dishes without relying on a cookbook but I think I’ll enjoy trying quite a few of the offerings here. 
 

I started with the eggplant puttanesca with fresh tomatoes on p 301 and thought it was quite good. 

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, blue_dolphin said:

Six Seasons of Pasta: A New Way with Everyone's Favorite Food (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) by Joshua McFadden and Martha Holmberg was published last week. I received my copy, have given it a good once over, cooked one of the recipes and have a bunch more marked to try.  

The book opens with a dried pasta primer and discussion of his decision to use dried pasta exclusively in the book. The recipes offer a range of interesting ingredient combinations but he also devotes space to “how to” pages for dressing pasta with the basic pestos, flavored butters and whipped ricotta that appear in the front of the book.  There are similar sections for using ragus, making baked pasta dishes and pasta salads so the reader can build on the basics with their own recipes. After the basic sauces, the recipes are organized by season, similar to Six Seasons. Plenty of meat and seafood are used. It’s not a vegetarian cookbook but I think that cooking with vegetables is really McFadden's strength.  In reading through, I thought some of the dishes would be delicious without the pasta, just adding more vegetables. 
 

With a few exceptions, the pasta recipes serve 2-4, depending on how hearty or rich they are.  The ragu recipes tend to make enough for 8-12 servings, and he recommends freezing them in portions appropriate for one meal. 
 

There's one recipe for a Caesar salad and one for garlic bread but other than that, it’s all pasta. 
 

I’ve got several pasta cookbooks that focus on making fresh pasta, so I’m fine with the dry pasta focus. I’m also quite capable of concocting my own pasta dishes without relying on a cookbook but I think I’ll enjoy trying quite a few of the offerings here. 
 

I started with the eggplant puttanesca with fresh tomatoes on p 301 and thought it was quite good. 

 

 

 

 

Do the recipes call for homemade dried pasta or storebought dried pasta?

 

[blue_dolphin]

32 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

 

Do the recipes call for homemade dried pasta or storebought dried pasta?

 

I assume it’s storebought but the recipes don’t precisely use that language. 

Each recipe’s ingredient list gives only the weight in grams and ounces and three shape options. The words homemade, dried, storebought or pasta do not appear in the recipe ingredient lists. 
The introduction lists recommended brands of dried pasta, including gluten-free options. 
There are no recipes in the book for homemade fresh or dried pasta nor recommendations for finding recipes. 

[Maison Rustique]

I discovered that this site shows several recipes from the book. I always like that--nice to try before you buy!

[weinoo]

I mean, I know - I get it - chef's, if they can, will write cookbooks because they need to make some money, which their restaurants probably aren't.

 

But if we haven't learned all we need to know about pasta, it's uses, sauces, how to make it fresh or dried, etc. etc. from Marcella, Giuliano, Pellegrino, Katie, Roscioli, Julia della Croce, Simeti, Carlo MIddione, Lidia, et al. - then what is this world coming to?!  

[weinoo]

By the way, according to Amazon (to answer a question above):

 

Quote

 These recipes are all made using storebought dried pasta.

 

[gfweb]

7 minutes ago, weinoo said:

I mean, I know - I get it - chef's, if they can, will write cookbooks because they need to make some money, which their restaurants probably aren't.

 

 

 

Apparently Ina Garten makes all her money off cookbooks and not TV.  I would not have thought.

[blue_dolphin]

45 minutes ago, weinoo said:

But if we haven't learned all we need to know about pasta, it's uses, sauces, how to make it fresh or dried, etc. etc. from Marcella, Giuliano, Pellegrino, Katie, Roscioli, Julia della Croce, Simeti, Carlo MIddione, Lidia, et al. - then what is this world coming to?! 

I’d say we’re in a place where people enjoy cookbooks for a variety of different reasons. We're engaged by different styles of writing and presentation and publishers capitalize on that. Learning what we need to know about a topic is one reason but certainly not the only one. 

[weinoo]

29 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

We're engaged by different styles of writing

 

Well, some of us are.  I just don't understand how a recipe might be written differently than a recipe is written.

 

I also don't understand how, unless a recipe/dish for pasta comes out amazingly different, that it hasn't been written in one way, shape or form previously.

[blue_dolphin]

8 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

Well, some of us are.  I just don't understand how a recipe might be written differently than a recipe is written.

 

I also don't understand how, unless a recipe/dish for pasta comes out amazingly different, that it hasn't been written in one way, shape or form previously.

Sounds like you think people buy cookbooks only for the recipes! 

[rotuts]

ATK/CC/MS  make most of their money via cookbooks , and various subscriptions.

 

and , of course , being experts at churn.

 

I agree w @weinoo  that their is not that much new in the pasta world

 

and I agree w @blue_dolphin  a cookbook , in hand , and be a joy for inspiration , esp w the photography .

[rotuts]

this pic 

 

 

from the above book  ( e-bub version )

 

inspired me to think about my two pasta dishes .  the Campari and the Pork iPot ragu .

 

Im adding a little finely sliced raw spinach to my Campari Linguini tonight , as a result.  go figure .

 

And Im not sure Id ever add Kale to Macella's  tomato sauce .

 

 

 

 

[rotuts]

to be fair to the author , allowing you to decided :

 

 

 

re: Kale.

 

for review purposes , from 

 

'  Six Seasons of Pasta '

 

Id try it , when MarketBasket caries Tuscan kale .

 

and , looking over the various Ragu Rx's , Im reminded again , my Pork iPot Ragu lacks a carrot.

 

I know that would improve it , as the carrot is in Classic Meat Ragu .  but I keep forgetting to get one.

 

 

[weinoo]

2 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

Sounds like you think people buy cookbooks only for the recipes! 

 

No, they use the internet for that!

 

Look, he cooked at Franny's and other good restaurants (though I'm not sure how much).  Do you have this?

1 hour ago, rotuts said:

And Im not sure Id ever add Kale to Macella's  tomato sauce .

 

That's a hard no!