Pasta is a wonderfully versatile ingredient that is healthy and filling. It is one of the staple Mediterranean foods, and is eaten as spaghetti in Italy, and cous cous in North Africa, and has widely spread across the world. Its versatility has meant that it has spread to the rest of Europe, Asia, Africa and america. This adaptability of pasta is one the strongest points of pasta – combined with virtually any food you make make a series of healthy pasta dishes. It is equally at home in a poor students kitchen, or the most expensive Italian restaurant.
You can buy a bewildering range of different types of pasta. Pasta can be fresh or dried, made of durum wheat or buckwheat and flavored with spinach, tomato, egg or beetroot. It comes in different colors, which taste slightly different. It is widely said that fresh pasta is superior, but dried pasta has its uses. Fresh pasta needs to be stored in the fridge and consumed in a few days, while dried pasta can keep for years in an airtight container. Dried pasta is normally sold in every food shop and supermarkets, and is lot cheaper. It tends to be have a firmer, denser flavor, and suit stronger sauces. Fresh pasta cooks in less than a minute, and has a lighter flavor to it. It absorbs the flavors of the surrounding dishes and is more subtle in its taste. Both fresh and dried pasta can make equally healthy pasta dishes.
Pasta is sold in many different shapes and sizes. This is not only for aesthetics, but makes a difference to the taste of pasta dishes. Cous cous for example, tastes very different from macaroni, just because of its size and shape. Each pasta shape tastes different as the pasta is a different density, and each allows the sauce to cling to it in different ways.
Thinner pastas tend to suit thinner, more oily sauces such as spaghetti bolognese, while wider pastas should be used with chunkier sauces – such as lasagna. Tiny shaped pastas can also suit noodle soups. Pasta can also can be used as a package or wrap for different meats and vegetables. Ravioli is a delicious example of a healthy pasta dish, where small squares of pasta wrap a delicate meat paste.
Pasta can be cooked in several different ways – it can be boiled, or baked, or fried. It is well worth spending money on the pasta, although there are many cheaper varieties. The cheap pastas tend to break apart easily, and have a disappointing taste. For the ultimate in taste you should try pasta that is freshly spun in an Italian kitchen – the taste is quite unlike anything you can cook in your saucepan.
Pasta is packed with carbohydrates, protein and fiber, and is very low in fat. It is also extremely filling, so you will find that you don’t need to snack as often. You will never get bored of pasta as you will always find new healthy pasta dishes everyday.
