There is a fascinating variety of pasta making machines on the market, but they all perform the same basic task. But then, all cars perform the same basic task. Yet some get you there in style, while others merely take you from place to place. Once you have a mound of pasta dough, to turn [...]
Fettuccine, In The Manner of Alfredo
Fettuccine all’Alfredo is among the simplest, yet tastiest pasta dishes. The ingredients are easily obtained and the procedure can successfully be carried out by even the most cooking-challenged of chefs. First invented by the Roman chef after whom the dish is named, it consists of just pasta, parmigiano and butter. You’ll need: 1 lb fettuccine [...]
An Ancient Food, Still Modern
One of the most remarkable things about pasta isn’t just how long it’s been around. It’s that, plus the fact that it has changed so little over the hundreds, or perhaps thousands of years that it has been made and consumed. While the ancient Greeks and Romans undoubtedly made and prepared pasta differently than is [...]
A Brief History of Pasta
Where you place the origins of pasta depends a great deal on how you define it. There is evidence that the ancient Etruscans prepared a wheat and egg paste, but it was baked not boiled. Does that count? There are artifacts from a period 3,000 years ago that look remarkably like pasta dies and extruders. [...]
Pasta Cooking Tips from the Pros
Nothing should be simpler than cooking pasta. After all, it’s just a matter of heating some water to a boil and tossing a wheat and egg-based product into a pot for a few minutes, right? But within this seemingly simple operation lies many potential pitfalls. To avoid them, though, requires nothing more than a little [...]
Pasta and the Heart Healthy Diet
Like everything in nutrition, the heart health impact of pasta is an area of active research. Though there are dissenters, which is good since that’s where new ideas come from, most experts agree that pasta is a heart-healthy food. Made from durum wheat, pasta is a whole grain food. Whole grains are ‘whole’ because their [...]
Pasta and Seafood
Many cities in Italy are near the sea and the Italians are well-known for their centuries-old tradition of fishing. They’re also well known, obviously, for the use of pasta in cooking. Many excellent recipes have evolved from those twin circumstances. When the seafood is fresh, these two make for excellent partners. There are many possibilities, [...]
Pasta and Meat
One of the great things about pasta is not just its inherent great taste, but its versatility. Because of the variety of shapes it can take on, and its sturdy structure, it can be stuffed with meat or smothered in meat sauce. Bacon, beef, lamb, chicken… they all go great with pasta, in the noodle [...]
Is Pasta a Healthy Food?
Pasta, like many foods high in carbohydrates, often gets a bad reputation. But a little basic nutrition knowledge can dispel that right away. Carbohydrates, though they are sometimes made out to be villains, are actually similar to natural sugars. When broken down they provide a major source of glucose, which is the body’s ‘energy factory’. [...]
