Everything you need to know about pasta

When we hear the word “pasta” most of us think of a good plate of spaghetti with tomatoes and basil, but pasta is much more than that. There are many different forms and the flours used to make them are not all the same.

Pasta is considered the main dish of the Mediterranean diet and is generally divided into three main categories: fresh pasta, dry pasta, and egg pasta.

How to cook and bake pasta
Pasta is not just the typical pasta dish. Pasta can also be sweet (e.g. shortcrust pastry) or used as a base for pies or pizzas. But pasta is generally understood to mean noodles that are boiled in plenty of boiling water, drained and then dressed.

In Italy, pasta is preferably cooked “al dente”, that is, not too soft, and cooking times vary greatly depending on the type of pasta.

Fresh pasta, like gnocchi or tagliolini, usually cooks fairly quickly, while dry pasta takes longer. As for salting the water, not everyone agrees on when salt should be added to the noodles, but it seems that the best time is just before pouring the noodles into the water.

Recipes with pasta: many, yes VERY many
There are so many recipes that can be made with pasta. Often they are quick recipes like a good summer pasta salad or simple spaghetti aglio olio e peperoncino (garlic, oil and chili), but sometimes they are more elaborate recipes like baked pasta or lasagna alla Bolognese.

Pasta can be served with sauce, with meat, with vegetables, with fish: there really are no limits. It should not be forgotten that pasta is also used in many soups typical of central and southern Italy, such as B. Pasta with chickpeas or pasta with beans, not to mention soups and minestrone.