Freak369's Full Review: Polly Clingerman - A Passion for Pasta
I like to think that I am pretty creative in the kitchen. I do admit that I am a better baker than a cook but there are some dishes that I pride myself on like baked ziti, lasagna and shrimp bisque. The book, A Passion for Pasta, is a good introduction book for pasta themed dishes. As long as you can do a minimal amount of prep work and cook the pasta needed for the dish you shouldn't have any problems with any of the recipes. The sections include pasta with cheese, chicken, pork or beef, seafood, salads and vegetables. This is a small book with only 64 pages but there are some interesting recipes if you like trying something different. The book starts out with some cooking tips, fixing problems that might arise with sauces or pastas, eating healthier pasta dishes and one of the oddest things I have ever heard – freezing pasta. Yes, if you ever saw the movie Mother and are laughing about her freezing salad chances are you will snicker at the idea of freezing pasta.
Before you get into the recipes there is a visual primer on some of the different types of pasta that you may come across in the book. These are illustrated and labeled but there is no further information like a recommendation on which pasta works best with different sauces. This section can be a little confusing for newbies in the kitchen, they might not know what the difference is between ziti, rigatoni and penne since they all sort of have the same shape. When you finally get into the recipes you get the usual information; name, ingredients, basic instructions and how many people it will serve. There are no nutritional values for the recipes; I have to assume that is because it was published in 1990 when not everyone really gave a flaming leap about how many calories were in a dish of pasta or the carbohydrates in a recipe.
Some of the best recipes that I have tried so far include the very yummy ziti with ham, fish fillets with curry cream [spicy], ziti with sausage [almost the same as baked ziti] and cheese ravioli with crab and garlic. I knew that not everyone would like these dishes so I made a couple of side dishes that they could snack on. None of the recipes in the book are difficult or complicated and about 70% of them won't require you to go out and buy additional items for them if you have a somewhat well stocked kitchen. The brand of pasta that you pick can play a big part in how your dish turns out but I never go for the expensive imported pastas because San Giorgio and Barilla are just as good and are usually a fraction of the price. The recipes with beef and pork do require a little bit of extra prep time and when you are working with the chicken you do have to stay on top of handling it and cleaning up after handling it to avoid any cross contamination.
A few of the 'advanced' recipes that I have tried include Turkish ravoli, fettuccine with Cornish hens and fennel and fettuccine with tofu, broccoli and almonds. The only reason that I say that these are advanced is the amount of prep and cook time that they require. They are not overly complicated to make but they do require that you invest some time into prepping the ingredients as well as making special purchases. I don't have Cornish hens in my freezer and tofu is usually eaten within a day or two of it being purchased. The book does not make any wine or side dish suggestions so you will have to do a little snooping online to find things that go well with the various dishes.
The recipes in A Passion For Pasta are good but they are a bit basic. There are items that you can substitute to tweak the overall flavor of the dishes but even if you stick to the letter with these, you are going to end up with some interesting and tasty meals. Please keep in mind that not everyone is going to be into the culinary experience, that goes double for kids. Don't force them to clear the plate if it is something that is completely new to them but encourage them to give it a try. This is a soft cover book from The American Cooking Guild and there is no price on the back or inside cover. I got this at a yard sale along with a ton of other books for two dollars. The seller was frustrated that there were boxes of books sitting there mid-afternoon and she handed be a paper bag and said I could have all the books I could fit in the bag for two dollars. As expected, 80% of them aren't in the database.
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