The Pasta Book, by Luigi Veronelli (St. Martin’s Press: $16.96, 188 pages, color photographs.)

Purple, pink, blue, green and yellow may sound more like colors in a fashion catalogue than shades of pasta. Nevertheless, one can introduce these hues into the dough as well as more somber colors like beige, black and brown, making a rainbow of noodles possible to those who follow Veronelli’s teachings. Novelty mint, strawberry and blue Curacao pastas aside, his book is a good guide to dough mixing and cutting. And the “Ten Golden Rules of Pasta Cooking” should lead to a successful outcome.

Those who aspire only to eat pasta, not to make or cook it, will find Veronelli’s guide to regional Italian pastas and stuffed pastas a helpful guide. The first third of the book is devoted to practical pasta tips, followed by recipe chapters including two on foods loosely related to pasta--gnocchi and crepes. The book has been published in Italy as well as in the United States, so it has been planned to satisfy a knowledgeable audience of pasta fans.