The Glorious Pasta of Italy 

The Glorious Pasta of Italy By Domenica Marchetti, Chronicle Books, 2011. Hardcover. $30; 280 pages

There must be as many pasta books as pastas at this point, but this is a favorite, a handsome nod to the simple and the unusual. Domenica Marchetti—an American of Italian heritage—begins with the fundamentals: fresh pasta dough, stocks, sauces. The classics are here, along with black spaghetti with crab ragù; roasted carrot and ricotta gnocchi; bigoli with spicy sardine sauce; and "showstoppers" like codette, a pasta that looks like a long string bean.

GIVE THIS TO: Pasta lovers with a pasta machine. —Phoebe Wu