Anything's Pastable: 81 Inventive Pasta Recipes for Saucy People

A BEST COOKBOOK OF THE YEAR: Wired, Food & Wine, Epicurious, & EsquireWinner, 2025 Libby Award for Best Cookbook of the YearThe innovative James Beard Award–winning podcaster who changed the way you think about pasta shapes with his invention of the viral sensation cascatelli now does the same for pasta sauces in this fun and charmingly obsessive pasta sauce cookbook, which includes a foreword from bestselling author J. Kenji López-Alt.When Sporkful podcast host Dan Pashman launched cascatelli, a new pasta shape he invented that he designed to hold tons of sauce, stay on the fork, and be incredibly satisfying to bite into, it went viral and was named one of TIME Magazine’s Best Inventions of the Year. VICE called him "a modern pasta legend."But as Dan was flooded with pictures of what people were making with his pasta, he was disappointed to see how limited their pasta recipes were: tomato sauce, meat sauce, mac and cheese, over and over. A few party animals made pesto.So Dan set out to revolutionize people’s conceptions of pasta sauces, just as he did with pasta shapes. He traveled across Italy and worked with an all-star team of recipe developers in the US to create a new kind of pasta sauce cookbook for people bored with the old standbys. That’s why there’s no 3-hour marinara recipe or fresh pasta made from scratch in this book. No photos of nonnas caked in flour or the hills of Tuscany. Instead it’s time to show the world—Anything’s Pastable.Here you’ll enjoy a world of creative pasta dishes inspired by a range of ingredients and cuisines:Kimchi CarbonaraCacio e Pepe e Chili CrispKeema BologneseMapo Tofu CascatelliShakshuka and ShellsSmoked Cheddar and Chicken Manicotti “Enchiladas”Linguine with Miso Clam SauceShrimp and Andouille Mac and CheeseLesser-known Italian pasta dishes with a twist:Spaghetti all’Assassina (spicy pasta pan fried until charred and crispy crunchy)Ciceri e Tria (chewy fresh pasta with crispy fried pasta in a light chickpea broth)Cavatelli with Roasted Artichokes and Preserved LemonCreste di Gallo with Fava Beans and Dandelion GreensPasta FrittataFun and delicious concoctions that may—or may not—be how they do it in Italy:Spinach Artichoke Dip Lasagna PinwheelsPasta Pizza (the “crust” is fettucine fused together)Roman Cafeteria Hot Dog Pasta Salad with Canned VeggiesWith an incredible array of fusion recipes, Dan showcases the limitless pastabilities when you really know how to use your noodle. Read more