Pasta dishes that you really will want to make to make again and again are rare. Here, Ann and Franco Taruschio have lovingly gathered together their 100 favourite dishes from across Italy, to create a mouth-watering collection, celebrated with stunning colour photography to inspire and guide the home cook.

With historical information for each dish, as well as regional insights and personal recollections, Ann and Franco engage the reader and cook on many different levels. Where different pasta comes from, why certain dishes were created and how are just a few of the questions answered. Spaghetti, for instance, comes from Naples but soon became so popular right across the country that it, rather than maccheroni (as General Giuseppe Garibaldi would have had it ), should take the prize for uniting Italy. Timballi and pasticci, eaten at festive occassions, are only to be found in Sicily and southern Italy. Though rarely restaurants. The earliest known recipe for tomato sauce comes from a late seventeenth century Neapolitan cookbook, Lo Scalco alla Moderna, by Antonio Latini. Dishes such as Linguine con Ie Lenticchie are eaten on the feast of San Silvestero (New Year's Eve), as lentils represent wealth in the year to come....

Throughout the book there are also titbits of information on the making and cooking of perfect pasta. The benefits of fresh pasta are extolled and the process demystified ('Following the simple rules of using good quality flour and the best eggs you can find – they must be absolutely fresh – home – made pasta cannot fail'). Advice is given on which pasta to use with which sauce, and the merits of using different pastas for different occasions are discussed. Baked pasta (such as Timballo di pasta al Forno Eoliana or Lasagne ai Funghi ) are, for example, perfect for entertaining as they can be made ahead of time and simply baked at the last minute. Spaghettini alla Posillipo, however, needs to be asembled just before serving and so is better suited to a family meal around the Kitchen table.

This is the only pasta book you will ever need – and one that will enrich your cooking (and eating!)experience

 

Franco Taruschio was born in the Marche region of ltaly and trained as a chef in Bellagio. He came to England to language and met his future wife Ann. Together they opened a restaurant at The Walnut Tree near Abergavenny in November 1963 and it became one of the most celebrated places to in Britain for the remainder of the 20th century. 'Retired', Franco has now opened a cooking School in Abergavenny and is a consultant at various restaurants across England.

Ann Taruschio grew up in Basingstoke and Brecon. As front of house at The Walnut Tree Inn, she became Known for her infectious hospitality and for helping guests to really relax and enjoy the wonderful surroundings. Ann researches and writes the books with her husband.

Ann and Franco Taruschio are the authors of Leaves from the walnut Tree: Recipes of a Lifetime, Bruschetta, Crostoni and Crosthni, Ice Creams and Semi-freddi and Franco & Friends, Which was accompanied by a 6-part series made for BBC TV,