NOODLING AROUND

Homeroom co-founder shares 52 perfect pasta recipes in new book

Good food is supposed to bring people together, but the idea of entertaining fills many of us with anxiety. It doesn’t have to, says Allison Arevalo, former Oakland restaurateur and author of “The Pasta Friday Cookbook: Let’s Eat Together” (Andrews Mcmeel; $22). The new cookbook includes 52 pasta recipes inspired by Sunday suppers with Arevalo’s Sicilian great-grandmother, who was 92 and needed to stand on a stepstool to flip meatballs.

Arevalo’s Pasta Friday concept is simple: Every Friday, make a huge pot of pasta, maybe a salad. Invite friends, family, neighbors — anyone you wish you could see more often — to enjoy a bowl with you. Tell them to bring wine to go with that canneloni or mafaldine with porcini and eggs, or a baguette or extra pecorino for grating. Over time, you’ll grow closer to the friends you have, foster new connections and create a tasty tradition for your kids.

You’ll also never make the same dish twice. “The Pasta Friday Cookbook” features 52 tempting recipes — a dish and shape for every week of the year — plus 16 fresh salads. Arevalo, who co-founded Oakland’s Homeroom and started Pasta Friday in her Rockridge home before moving back to her native New York, has arranged the cookbook by season, so you can start in the fall section with Radiatore with Crispy Chicken, Carrots and Sage, then move to the wintry Pappardelle with Roasted Pork and Mushrooms.

Lastly, what’s the secret to that no-anxiety thing? Know your limits, Arevalo says, keep it casual and feed the kids first.

COURTESY OF DENISE WOODWARD Allison Arevalo adds salt to boiling water as she prepares for Pasta Friday, a weekly dinner night with family and friends that she began here at her Rockridge home in 2017.