Pasta ─ Recipes from the Kitchen of the American Academy of Rome

"Even if you haven't landed one of the coveted internships in the kitchen at the American Academy in Rome, you can have a behind-the-scenes tutorial in the way that pastas and sauces are made in its kitchen. The recipes in Pasta are arranged in the same order as the interns are taught to make them, from simple to more complex, and are organized in the way Italians think about pasta, not only as fresh or dry, but by the base of the sauces (oil-, tomato-, meat-, and vegetable). Even the most sophisticated cooks will be intrigued by Chef Chris Boswell's engaging notes that explain what makes the flavors work together, why and how the sauces work with the pastas, and what makes a dish not only great, but unforgettable."--

Christopher Boswell is the executive chef of the Rome Sustainable Food Project. He has been at the RSFP since the program was established in 2006, when he was chosen by Alice Waters to work with former RSFP executive chef, Mona Talbott. He started out as a dishwasher and a prep cook in the small gold-rush town of Jackson, California. After high school, he attended the California Culinary Academy where he received the distinguished Daniel Carlisle Walker Award for culinary excellence. He then went on to work at the restaurants Stars, Acquarello, and One Market before moving to Italy for a year to learn authentic Italian rustic cooking. Boswell then joined Chez Panisse, where he received five years of intensive training under Alice Waters and her brigade of distinguished chefs.

Elena Goldblatt has always had a passion for cooking. She moved to her mother’s native Rome when she was 12 years old, and has been drawn back ever since. She graduated from Yale University in 2010 and was an intern in the Rome Sustainable Food Project kitchen in 2011. She worked for author and journalist Mark Bittman at The New York Times before returning to Rome to work with Chef Christopher Boswell on the RSFP cookbooks Pasta.