No other food offers the unique, tangible, sensuous enjoyment of pasta. And with a few fresh ingredients, a little imagination, and a lot of love (for cooking and for each other), Johanne and George have been making pasta magic for years. Now, with On Top of Spaghetti . . . , they offer their experience cooking pasta in Italy, in their restaurant, and in their home kitchen. All of the lessons, the techniques, the secrets, and their special pasta affinity are on display for you to achieve perfect results for perfect pasta.

On Top of Spaghetti... is a versatile collection of recipes that proves the ingenuity of pasta. The chapters are devoted to pasta with vegetables, legumes, and herbs; tomato sauces; seafood; poultry, meat, and rabbit; and eggs and cheese as well as baked and fresh pastas, ravioli, and lasagne. You will find authentic dishes here, such as Ricotta Ravioli, Linguine with Classic Ligurian Pesto, and Pasta Shells with Spicy Sausage Red Sauce, as well as innovative new dishes such as Zucchini Flower Lasagne, Saffron-Sauced Pasta and Osso Buco, and the superspicy Spaghetti La Bomba.

In down-to-earth style, Johanne and George include a guide to specialty ingredients that add a whole new understanding to capers, anchovies, and pine nuts, as well as to traditional meats and cheeses-;prosciutto di Parma, prosciutto cotto, pancetta, Pecorino Romano, and Parmigiano-Reggiano, including instructions for making homemade ricotta-;that are essential to the true taste of Italian pasta. There is also a section devoted to helpful, sensible tips: why you should always reserve some of your pasta cooking water, which pasta dishes are better served without cheese, how to know when your spaghetti is perfectly al dente, and how to gauge portion size. Topping it all off are sixteen pages of luscious color photographs of the finished dishes.

For utterly simple, fun, fresh, and flavorful recipes that are perfect for a leisurely lunch, an elegant feast, or a midnight spaghetti snack, nothing tops On Top of Spaghetti...