American Sfoglino: A Master Class in Handmade Pasta
By Evan Funke with Katie Parla
Photography by Eric Wolfinger

Having watched my Italian neighbor make pasta by hand when under four while living in Los Angeles I believe I fell in love with her and the pasta she made. I have made pasta with my daughter using a simple mechanical rolling device and found it an interesting experience BUT when I saw this book up for review I couldn’t resist.

This book is indeed a master class in the art of handmade pasta. Evan Funke’s journey to Italy and his study of the craft is fascinating as are the many interesting shapes of pasta he demonstrates making in the book. The four master dough recipes are shared: flour + water, egg, spinach and gnoocchi di ricotta. Many sauces recipes are given along with what pasta to serve them with. The tools and ingredients used to create the pastas are detailed. The photography was exquisite and I felt I could taste the food by reading the recipes and through the beauty of the photographs.

I don’t know that I would ever make pasta from scratch by hand on a regular basis as I do believe it would be labor intensive. That said, It was fascinating to find out how tubes are put into pasta, designs are put onto pasta and how fillings are done for a variety of shapes. There were shapes of pasta I have never seen and that was also a treat.

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I buy this book for myself or a friend? Yes

In the links below there is a YouTube video showing the author making pasta as well as an event one can attend and information about the restaurant where this homemade pasta can be eaten.

Thank you to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars ( )

American Sfoglino: A Master Class in Handmade Pasta from Evan Funke far exceeded my expectations, and I had fairly high expectations.

I approached this as something just barely more than simply a recipe book. So many books claim to be in depth or a "master class" but basically cover a few tips and procedures then offer a bunch of recipes. I don't really have a big problem with that as long as the recipes are reasonably put together and, hopefully, tasty (not the recipes themselves, the results, but you knew that). So I was blown away when this really did offer the depth and breadth one would expect from an in-person master class.

The information in general, the tips on handling and what tools to use, how to use those tools, what to expect and what unexpected results likely means you did wrong. I almost felt like I should raise my hand when I had a question. Fortunately, since I was actually alone, those questions were usually answered as I read on.

I would obviously recommend this to anyone who wants to create their own pasta. I would also highly recommend this to those who enjoy reading about food, its history and variations, and also enjoys reading recipes almost as short stories. I know people like that and they would love this book even if they never tried to make their own pasta. Me? Well, I'm going to give it a try, probably several.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. ( )