The Encyclopedia of Pasta

The book that inspired this blog.

Oretta Zanini De Vita is not a professional chef, but rather, a food historian. For the James Beard Award-winning Encyclopedia of Pasta, she spent years traveling all across Italy, with the goal of researching the history of pasta and recording every shape. The book doesn't include measurements like a traditional cookbook. Instead, it uses a combination of historical storytelling, preparation techniques, and drawings to catalogue every regional shape.

Sauces & Shapes: Pasta the Italian Way

Another gem from Oretta Zanini De Vita, this cookbook focuses on the somewhat complicated “rules” of making and eating pasta. It explains the do’s and don’ts, habits, peculiarities, and contradictions about pairing pasta shapes with the appropriate sauces, and features many straightforward recipes.

Pasta Grannies

First a Youtube channel, and now a cookbook, Pasta Grannies features grandmothers (and the occasional grandfather) across Italy. Vicky Bennison, the person behind the project, splits her time between London and Le Marche. She interviews and films each "Granny" preparing their signature dish. The Pasta Grannies channel is my favorite way to learn about obscure shapes, observe new techniques, and get inspired by new flavor combinations.

Pasta: The Spirit and Craft of Italy’s Greatest Food

This cookbook has quickly become a go-to for recipe inspiration. Missy Robbins, an American chef, has plenty of experience serving up quality fresh pasta at her two popular restaurants, Misi and Lilia. Her book features step-by-step instructions on dozens of pasta shapes, as well as regional Italian dishes, Italian-American favorites, and even recipes from her own kitchens.

American Sfoglino

Written by Evan Funke, American Sfoglino concentrates on the fresh egg pastas eaten in and around Emilia-Romagna, where Funke honed his training of classical techniques. The book's simplicity, featuring only 15 shapes out of 4 doughs, allows the focus to be on the method itself. Funke is notorious for shunning pasta machines, preferring to always hand roll his sfoglie using a traditional long mattarello - which can be a daunting task, but his book explains it all. He also includes anecdotes and lessons learned from his time studying in Italy.

Hand-Crank Machines

You don’t need to spend tons of money on a hand crank pasta machine, but you do want to make sure the one you buy is of a reasonable quality. The alignment of the two internal rollers needs to be just right to ensure that your dough doesn’t tear or roll unevenly. Marcato machines are considered reliable and classic, as are the Imperia models. Shop around your local housewares stores, though - I used to use a Tescoma machine that I found locally, and while it’s not of the highest quality, it served me just fine.

Of course, some would shun the use of any pasta machines at all, in favor of a long wooden rolling pin, or mattarello. There’s immense value to this method - the wood-on-wood technique when hand rolling out on a wooden surface creates a texture on the dough that you simply cannot achieve with any type of machine. And you can roll out an entire batch of dough at once, instead of sectioning out pieces to crank. If you’re ready to learn this traditional method, look for a simple and very long pin made of natural wood. Etsy has some great options!

Wooden Ridged Boards

Etsy has a great range of wooden boards. Depending on where you live, you may be able to find a standard gnocchi paddle in your local specialty cooking store, but the artisan sellers online offer an incredible range of sizes and patterns for all types of gnocchi, garganelli, malloreddus, and more.

Electric Attachments

If you already have an electric stand mixer, you often can find an attachment that will roll pasta dough into sheets, and even cut it into fettuccine or spaghetti. I have used the Kitchen Aid attachment in the past, and there is a similar product for Cuisinart mixers.

Drying Racks

You really don’t need a pasta rack. Especially if you plan on always eating your fresh pasta immediately after cutting it - you can always lay it out on towels or flour it and curl it into nests. But a drying rack can come in handy when you’re making larger quantities, or if you plan to store your pasta for future meals. The complete airflow helps the pasta to quickly form a thin skin, ensuring it won’t stick together.

Pasta Cutters

Having both a fluted and a straight edge cutter allows you to significantly expand your repertoire of pasta shapes. On the higher quality side, La Gondola sells an impressive range of cutters and other pasta-making accessories. You can find cheaper versions in most homewares stores, but keep in mind that the material of the wheel itself directly affects how smoothly it can slice through your sheets of dough. I also personally think it’s a good investment to buy a cutter with multiple adjustable wheels. Sometimes called a bicicletta, this tool allows you to easily cut several strips of dough at the exact same width, and change the distance between the wheels so you can use one tool for many applications.

Stamps & Other Tools

If you’re ready to splurge on handcrafted corzetti stamps, there’s a beautiful range available on Etsy.

You can also find a variety of ravioli stamps, ravioli molds, ridged rolling pins, and more unique items, like a chitarra or passatelli maker, from various online and brick-and-mortar sellers.