A great mix of humor and recipes! Lane has a true gift for comedic delivery and this was a riot of a side quest!

It is no surprise that Matteo Lane has written a funny book... I am just surprised that there is just so much humor in pasta. The voice is strong, the advice for cooking high quality dishes is stronger.

I am really enjoying the cooking tips and the recipes in this book.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for providing an advance review copy of this book to be published on April 1st 2025

This is my first book review. I love reading cookbooks. I have over 300 from around the world. I chose this book because for the last 3 years I lived near Livorno, Italy. I traveled in the north and south parts of Italy. I was working with 15-20 Italians. So I felt somewhat qualified to review the book. Since I read a lot of cookbooks I notice certain differences in the writing. This cookbook was above and beyond all others. The book read like a family history cooking lesson. I was told by my Italian NONNA that 95% of all Italian recipes have less than 5 ingredients. But the most important part of the dish are the ingredients. How fresh and how they were prepared before going into the dish. This cookbook points out freshness and quality of the food and the importance of using the right pasta for the right sauce. Highly recommended.

Beautiful food photography, delicious recipes. Can’t wait to make them all! Can’t go wrong with a an entire book of pasta and cute gay men, ha ha

Not only are all the selected dishes here seem quite easy enough for any home cook (not to mention all quite tasty-looking), but I also quickly grew to love the humor and fine wit that Matteo Lane packs into the pages. This honestly might be the first cookbook ever where I think that I actually ended up looking forward more to the recipe introductions than the recipes themselves!

I adore this book. It's pretty rare that a cookbook will both make me bust out laughing and wow me with delicious recipes. I can't wait to buy a physical copy and work my way through it.

I'm a big fan of pasta and own quite a few pasta cookbooks, but this one is a stand out in that the recipes feel so lived in and the anecdotes accompanying each of them give them excellent context. I have made Pasta della Mamma three times already and quite honestly it might be the best pantry pasta recipe that I have ever tasted. It will be one I return to for the rest of my life.

I'm so excited to dig into the rest of the recipes and have no doubt that they will be just as delicious!

So fun. Part cookbook, part comedy routine. If you follow Matteo on social media, you'll be familiar with some of the stories and a lot of the characters (including a section with Nick which is the best part).... and if you don't follow him on socials, why not?!?! Get to it! More than just entertaining, Matteo makes it out like cooking good pasta actually isn't that hard and while the recipes have a lot of repetition, I now know some great tips that I will never forget. I can definitely see myself buying this book as a gift for friends next holiday season.

I’ve never gotten so much joy out of a book whose title is insulting me.
Matteo Lane, known more as a comedian, is fantastic at blending stories of family and travel through Italy with the recipes that will make you wish you’re reading this with a gigantic bowl of pasta. You will keep yourself laughing!

I don't review a lot of cookbooks, I use a lot of cookbooks though, and let me tell you right now this isn't your average cookbook. I enjoy Matteo Lane's comedy, I don't know much more about him other than he is funny and I laugh when I see his performances. Of course, he would make a cookbook that would be filled with his sense of humor. I enjoyed his descriptions of cheeses...which is a weird thing to say and how he ties in all of his family's recipes to a story or memory. I love how even the recipes aren't your typical recipes, my favorite bit was when he described how his sister hangs her cheesecloth on the faucet like a hobo bag for making ricotta. Which is directly in the recipe. Then we have the addition of his "found family" and some of their recipes including simple mac and cheese using a box of mac and cheese. I think this is the perfect amount of sentiment, humor, stories, and recipes to make a cookbook enjoyable and entertaining beyond the kitchen.

My initial reaction upon opening the book and looking at the index was that there were not enough recipes to justify purchasing this if I were looking at it in a store, but I liked it so much by the end that I didn't even care.

I appreciated the humor and the characterizations of the author’s family and friends laid throughout the book. The line of family tied to each story in the first section was great, and provides some authenticity - it feels like I would trust the recipes because of that.

After the first section, I was expecting the next to be highly personal as well - and it felt less so for the first few recipes. More generic about Rome rather than tied to any personal stories. Though that improved as the section went on, and felt personal again when talking about Southern Italy and friends.

There were points where I literally laughed out loud - like at the start of the lasagna recipe where he characterized Barefoot Contessa as unrelatable.

Also, the pictures are amazing. I wanted to eat absolutely everything in this book.

Your Pasta Sucks is a fun cookbook by comedian Matteo Lane founded on his love of pasta. It is a collection of classic Italian recipes prominent in his life and upbringing, interspersed with jokes and fun anecdotes.

Thank you NetGalley and Chronicle Books. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.


This was a really fun read, and I love a good cookbook that doesn't take itself too seriously. The snarky humor had me chuckling the whole time.The photos are great too!

The instructions were very easy to follow, and the ingredients needed are simple and easy to find for most of the recipes. I like that the recipes only need a handful of ingredients to make.

I think this would be a great beginner friendly book to get for a new cook!

I love watching the YouTube videos of Matteo Lane and his "friend" Nick Smith, cook. This cookbook has delicious-looking pictures, funny family stories, and great recipes.

Pasta always has my heart, and there are some delicious looking recipes included in this cook book. I'm so excited to hit the stores and buy all the ingredients!

I expected nothing less from Matteo’s book. I just recently visited Italy for the first time and so I was very excited to get Matteo’s take on Italian food and cooking. It did not disappoint! There were hilarious family stories sprinkled thoughout the book that were so fun along with traditional Italian recipes I already know I’m going to love. This was an advance copy provided by NetGalley and Chronicle books (but I’m still buying my own once this hits the shelves because I loved it so much).

The file won’t open for me on the NetGalley app and I keep getting errors. Sad it wasn’t a file I could read!

Thanks NetGalley for an ARC. Can’t wait to make some of these recipes. I love the food in Italy and the dishes remind me of my visits.

I picked up this book because the cover and title immediately piqued my curiosity, and it turned out to be the perfect blend of cooking, humor, and memoir. As someone who loves browsing through cookbook pictures, I was thrilled to find this one didn’t disappoint. I thoroughly enjoyed it and have already tried several recipes, all of which have been a hit with my family. I loved it so much that I’ve pre-ordered a copy for both my sister and myself!

This was such a fun read and a great collection of recipes. On the cooking side there was a great range of really approachable dishes as well as some that might be a stretch for an average home cook but still well within reach. I very much look forward to trying some in my own home soon.

On the autobiography side, the shared stories and anecdotes drew you into a vibrant and interesting life and made me laugh. I would absolutely read a memoir that covered some of the same points and expounded on others and shared new stories. I thought this was well done and well laid out, the images were gorgeous and I look forward to checking out his stand-up as well.

Thank you netgalley for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

LOVE this book. The imagery and aesthetic is beautiful. The recipes sound delicious. And the personality and antidotes from the author are authentic and fun. Need to get my hands on a physical copy of this book. Yes please.