The Pasta Machine Cookbook is a major revision of the first cookbook to focus on the pasta itself, rather than the sauces to go with it. It's full of new, improved recipes for both hand-cranked and electric pasta machines. Home-made pasta is quick, easy, and a delicious improvement over store-bought pasta. Pasta has fewer calories and carbs—and more protein—than rice or potatoes. All the recipes here are written for hand-cranked and electric machines. The Pasta Machine Cookbook includes sections on different types of pasta; hints on the machines, cooking, and serving; and a section on sauces, toppings, and fillings.

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However, I guess that wasn't enough to fill up a book, because the book also has a bunch of recipes that look questionable at best. It looks kind of like the author sat down and tried to brainstorm everything she could possibly think of to make pasta out of -- kind of an illustration of the old adage that if all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. For example, there are some recipes for curry pastas here, which seems like a reasonable enough idea if you can think of something to make that wuld go well with it. However, the author's only serving suggestion is to then make a curry and serve it over the curry pasta, which makes a lot less sense to me than making a pasta with a flavor that would complement whatever curry you are making. There are a number of recipes like this, where the author suggests using a set of ingredients from a dish in a pasta to go with the dish.

Beyond that there's no discussion of making tortellini and only a brief discussion of making ravioli, with only a few ideas for fillings. This seems like an area where the author's creativity could have been put to far better use, as there are a vast number of possible fillings that might go really well tossed lightly with oil or with a simple cream sauce.

This is a very inexpensive book and it contains a wide variety of of useful recipes for various pastas, so this book does the job it sets out to do. However, I can't help but think it could have been a much better book if a little more thought and discretion could have been put into it.

61 of 62 found the following review helpful:

A Fabulous Guide to Pasta Making!Feb 20, 1998
By nbloom@pipeline.com
This is a great cookbook for anyone who had or wants to own a pasta machine. The easy to follow recipes are adjusted for both the hand crank and electric machines as well. For this past Valentine's Day my girlfriend and I brought out her old pasta machine and following one of the recipes we made a four-spice pasta that was incredible. We had once tried to make pasta before and it took a lot longer then because we didn't quite know the proportions needed. However, following the instructions Donna German gives. Making pasta took a lot less time, even with a hand crank pasta machines. Although we have not tried any of the sauce or main dish recipes they look pretty darn good too. Off to find my own pasta machine...:-)

68 of 74 found the following review helpful:

Making fresh pasta has never been easier!Apr 21, 2000
By Daniel F. Moore
I bought this book a few years ago after purchasing an electric pasta maker. The instructions are very clear and concise. But the best thing is that the book gives the reader a huge number of pasta recipes including the use of various flours, herbs, vegetables, fruits, spices and cheeses. After using the book for awhile, I decided to experiment with some of my favorites...garlic, basil and parmesan. You will delight every person who sits at your table and you will be proclaimed an absolute gourmet chef. Pasta is very healthy and now it can be equally delicious. Imagine chocolate pasta topped with brandied strawberries! Even the kids can make pasta with these recipes. I have had many hours of culinary pleasure thanks to Donna German and you will too!

14 of 14 found the following review helpful:

For Pasta Lovers who want to go a step furtherJul 15, 2006
By David De Sousa "The Automation and Control Guy"
Excellent book to prepare your own pasta at home. The book is adapted to both hand-cranked and electric extruder pasta machines.

Buy this book only if you are willing to do something exotic and elaborated with the pasta. If you love pasta but want to save the trouble, keep the pasta simple and play with the sauce recipes. In this case you may want to try a different book, like "Pasta Sauces" by Charles Bellissimo, or "The Essential Pasta Cookbook".

19 of 21 found the following review helpful:

Interesting, but...Mar 24, 2005
By V. Lemon "msbooker"
I bought this book when I first got my hand-crank pasta machine. It's kind of fun, but most of the recipes are far too elaborate and highly flavoured. Very few of them sound like something you'd want to do start to finish. I agree with the Italians -- pasta is fairly basic -- have fun with the sauces. (I do wish I had the patience to make those cute little candystriped "packets", though.)

This is inexpensive enough to be an "idea" book, if you want to try something "exotic", which pasta isn't, of course.

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