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the
clueless cook's handbook: does it matter what brand of pasta i use? 
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is fresh
pasta better than dried? Fresh homemade pasta is divine. It’s not any more authentically Italian than dried pasta – the Italians, especially those in the south, certainly use plenty of the dried stuff in their cooking – but the fresh stuff does taste distinctly different. For one thing, it’s generally made with eggs, so it has a far richer flavor than the storebought dried pastas you’re probably used to eating. And because it’s more porous, it also tends to absorb more of whatever sauce you use to coat it. As for the texture, it’s simultaneously softer and with more bite, a fact which probably won’t make any sense to you until you try it out for yourself. Which you should, if you haven’t before, because I guarantee you’ll adore it. And as an added plus, fresh pasta cooks up super-quickly, so you won’t have to slave over a hot stove as long as you would with dried pasta. An important note about fresh pastas: The pre-packaged "fresh" pastas that you sometimes see in the more upscale supermarkets tend to be rather expensive compared to dried pasta. Personally, I don’t think they’re really worth it, as they rarely come even close to having the amazingly tasty texture of a true homemade fresh pasta. more pasta basics ... brand | fresh vs. dried | shapes + sauces | estimating quantity | how to cook pasta | cooking times |
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