The Pasta Friday Cookbook

Book excerpt: “A pasta lover’s delight and a culinary treasure that can provide the basis and foundation for memorable gatherings of family and friends.” —The Midwest Book Review Pasta Friday is a weekly pasta tradition that turns neighbors into friends, and friends into family. Restaurateur and food writer Allison Arevalo shows you how to start your own tradition by cooking comforting, delicious pasta dishes to feed your family on a busy weeknight, or for a crowd on the weekend. It’s not about entertaining, but sitting down with family and friends to eat together, and connect over big bowls of cannolicchi with red pepper sauce, pappardelle with slow-cooked pork ragu, trofie with pesto, and more. Find the right dish for any week of the year from the 52 comforting pasta dishes and 16 creative salads, organized by season. And, be sure to sprinkle in some extras like crispy, spicy prosciutto, lemon breadcrumbs. Each recipe uses a different pasta shape, so you can have fun experimenting with calamarata, gnocchetti, paccheri, and mafalda, or simply using traditional spaghetti. There are plenty of tips for scaling the recipes up for a crowd, shopping on a budget, and finding time to cook, along with wine pairings, and gorgeous photography. You’ll fall in love with the Pasta Friday tradition, and start hosting your own before you know it. “A true testament that grace, kindness, and generosity can help build community and spread love for good food while nurturing a peaceful and joyful world, especially for our children.” —Rolando Beramendi, author of Autentico: Cooking Italian, the Authentic Way