La Pasta- The Alchemy of Combining Wheat Flour and Water Pasta literally means dough in Italian.

What is simpler than harvesting wheat, milling it into flour and mixing it with water? Did Marco polo bring pasta to Italy from China where it had been eaten for centuries? Did Arab traders take it to Sicily from North Africa, or was it already eaten during the times of the Roman Empire? And does it matter who was first, and where this iconic food originated, because we are all thankful to the Italians, who gave this magical fare to the rest of the world.       

Italian cuisine without pasta is unthinkable.  It's the fuel that keeps Italy going and it’s difficult to imagine an Italian meal without it in some form. The average Italian consumes an enormous 23 kilograms of pasta annually, fresh and dried, in countless shapes, sizes and textures, with an innumerable variety of fillings and sauces.

When the pasta is of good quality, the rest of the magic is in pairing the right shape correctly with the appropriate sauce. Each type and shape of pasta is designed for a specific kind of sauce. As an example, a heavy sauce clings better to the ridges on rigatoni. Thin strands of spaghetti do the same for lighter smoother types of sauces.  Here is a simple guide to some common pasta types and their sauce pairings, knowledge that an Italian Nonna, housewife or cook imbibes with their mother’s milk, but we foreigners must learn.   

Common Types

Long thin pasta = Lighter, smoother or delicate types of sauces like marina or oil-based sauces or the broth of sautéed mussel or vongole cling easily to the thin strands of spaghetti.

Long wide pasta = For Alfredo or creamy sauces, broad pasta shapes like tagliatelle or fettuccine are best. Pair long, ribbon pasta shapes such as tagliatelle, pappardelle or fettuccine, with rich, meaty sauces.

Tubular pasta = For example, penne, ziti, and rigatoni (ridged pasta) are versatile shapes that fit well with thick vegetable or meat sauces like Bolognese. They also go well together with creamy sauces.

Small pasta = Casarecce for light sauces. Orecchiette has a concave shape that is perfect for scooping up rich and creamy cheese sauces or chunky tomato sauces. 

Very small pasta = For example, pastine and orzo, are very small pasta shapes that disappear in a typical pasta sauce, but are ideal in soups and broths.

Pasta mista : There is one pasta type that stems from a time when dried pasta was sold in bulk. It is a combination of all the above. Before standardized packaging, pasta was sold by weight, and the broken and damaged bits that were less desirable, were offered as an inexpensive alternative. These broken scraps were used to fill out soups, bean, potato and vegetable dishes. Today different forms of pasta mista can be found packaged on supermarket shelves.      

Fresh Pasta:  Fresh pasta is easy to make or can be purchased at the local pastaficio. Even if dry pasta is most commonly used, fresh pasta that is rolled out, cut and pressed, into different shapes, is perfect with delicate sauces that accentuate its flavor and texture and coat its smooth surfaces. It is also used for pasta that is stuffed like ravioli and tortellini. In Vasto the most common fresh pasta is “spaghetti alle chitarra.”

Finally, some general advice. Whatever the type, cook all pasta al dente in lots of well salted water. An Italian cook will tell you, “that the pasta water should have the same salinity as the sea.” And importantly, the pasta is always mixed into the sauce to coat it well.

 

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