Pasta Mania: Indulge in the Most Popular Pasta Recipes and Tip!

Introduction:

Pasta is a food made from wheat flour, eggs and water. Generally, it cooked in water & mostly it served with sauce. For health, you can also make it from rice flour, buckwheat, cornmeal and other grains. It ate fresh (like ravioli) or dry (like noodles or spaghetti). Macaroni, Spaghetti, and Noodles are types of pasta. They are available in different shapes.

Pasta made from wheat which is good for health, or when you add some veggies to it, it becomes healthier. It is a good source of fiber and energy because it uses grain in the dough. It also can help with stomach problems or help to reduce cholesterol.

History:

Pasta is an Italian word (which means “Surprise”), and from late Latin, its means paste or dough. Pasta’s earliest roots were found in China in Shang Family in 1700-1100 BC. This family made pasta from rice flour or wheat. Its properties were also found in the Greek diet in the first millennium BC. However, Italy took a story shape in the early month or days of the 4th century BC. Etruscan civilization has the prehistory of pasta.

Kinds of pasta:

• Dried Pasta: It produced in large quantities, and large machines required for processing. Flour and water used for dough. Eggs also can be used for taste or health but in this, avoid adding them. At low temperatures, it dried all the moister in it. Many days required for this process, but once it is dried, it can store for one or more years. On cooking, it grows 2x from its original size. It can be served with soups, sauces and carrousels.
• Fresh Pasta: It is produced according to need. Generally, it is made by hand, but you also can use a machine for it & eggs and flour are used for dough. It contains eggs, so it’s more delicious as compared to dried. It took half the time to cook from the dried one but its size stays the same during cooking & mostly it is served with butter or delicate sauce.

Types of pasta shapes:

• Long
• Short
• Filled
• Sheet
• Dumpling

Long Type:

They are lengthy, thin and have strands. Often it cooked with sauces and diced veggies and meat.

• Spaghetti: It has a long, solid, thin, and cylindrical shape. It is the most common type and easily recognizable. Its common length is 10-12 inches (25-30 centimeters) long. It is mostly served with meat and tomato sauce.
• Vermicelli: It is an Italian word which means “little worm”. They are traditional and skinny. Their diameter is 0.06 inches (less than 1.5 cm). It made with rice flour or semolina. They are served with soups (noodles), salads and spring rolls.
• Fettuccine: Fettuccine means “little ribbons”. They are flat, long and 0.25 inches wide (6.4 cm). They mostly served with a heavy sauce. It also gives delicious taste with meatball sauce.
• Bucatini: It is an Italian word which means “hollow straw”. It looks like normal spaghetti. However, it’s thicker than traditional spaghetti. It gives good flavor cook with soups. It served with vegetables, parmesan or with sauce.
• Pappardelle: It is derived from the Italian word pappare which means “to devour up”. They are similar to fettuccine. They served with different sauces.
• Linguine: It is an Italian word which means “little tongue”. They assembled to fettuccine but have an elliptical shape. They are 0.156 inches (4 mm) wide. They served with different light creamy sauces.
• Tagliatelle: It is derived from the Italian word tagliare which means “to cut”. They are similar to fettuccine but 0.25 inches wide (6mm) & they served with different sauces.

Short Type:

They are short. Often it cooked with sauces and diced veggies and meat.

• Elbow Macaroni: Their name come from the Greek “food made for barely”. Macaroni is hollow and also comes in different shapes and sizes & they bent like elbows. This is most common type of macaroni and is mostly used in salads.
• Farfalle: Farfalle is an Italian word which means “butterflies”. Their shape is like a bow tie and also comes in different sizes. It mostly used in salads and soups.
• Cavatelli: Cavatelli is an Italian word which means “little hollows”. Their shape is like shells and made from eggless dough. It mostly used with thicker creamy sauces and is also a good painpair with noodles.

• Orecchiette: Orecchiette means ear in Italian which makes sense because of its shape. Their shape is like a dome. They mostly served with creamy sauces & meat.
• Penne: They have a cylindrical shape and the ends are cut at angles. They may also grooved or smooth. They are served with creamy sauces and topped with grated cheese.
• Rigatoni: They are tube shapes with ridge ends. They are thick so served with thicker sauces and topped with grated cheese.

Filled:

They filled with delicious different things like meat, cheese and vegetables.

• Ravioli: In Italian ravioli means “little turnips”. Eggs are used in making their dough. They are square or also circular in shape. They filled with meat, cheese and also vegetables. They are mostly used in soups.
• Tortellini: It is derived from the Italian word torta which means “cake”. They filled with cheese and meat. Their size is 1 inch × o.8 inches (20 mm × 25 mm). They served in varieties of soups.

Sheet:

As the name suggests they are like sheets. They are thin & flat like a thin piece of cardboard.

• Lasagna: They are thin & flat, wide rectangles or squares. Their edges are curly. They mostly cooked with cheese and creamy sauces.

Dumpling:

• Potato Gnocchi: Gnocchi is derived from the Italian word nocchio, meaning “a knot in the wood”. They made from potato and flour of different sizes and shapes. They served with melted butter.

USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) Nutrition Facts:

Dry, corn Pasta

• Serving Size:1 cup
• Calories 357
• Protein 7g
• Total Fat:2g
• Total Carbohydrates:79g
• Dietary Fiber:11g
• Potassium:294mg
• Sodium:3mg
• Cholesterol:0mg

Pasta, Corn, Cooked

• Serving Size:1 cup
• Calories:126
• Protein:2g
• Total Fat:0g
• Total Carbohydrates:27g
• Dietary Fiber:4g
• Potassium:31mg
• Sodium:0mg
• Cholesterol:0mg

Pasta, Fresh-Refrigerated, Spinach, Cooked

• Serving Size:2 oz
• Calories:130
• Protein:5g
• Total Fat:0g
• Total Carbohydrates:25g
• Potassium:37mg
• Sodium:6mg
• Cholesterol:33mg

Health benefits According to Nutrition’s:

• Pasta made from whole grain. It is good for health.
• Vegetables and meat used in cooking so they are good sources of fiber.
• It made from grain so it helps prevent you from cancer.
• It has carbohydrates that helps in losing weight.
• It has minerals which can help to prevent high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and other health problems.
• They are low in fat.

• They are low in calories so, there is no chance of weight gaining.
• They have protein which is essential for the development and growth of muscles.
• It has Omega-3 which help in preventing high blood pressure.
• You can add fruit to it which is good for health.
• You can make a salad like fruit or vegetables and in it, it is good for health.

Risk and warnings:

Things have their pros and cons. Pasta gives you many benefits but it also has many risks some of which described below:

• It is high in carbs it is not good for diabetes. There is a risk of increasing and developing diabetes.
• If you have diabetes don’t eat it there is chance of increasing blood in sugar which leads increasing weight.
• If you have heart issue avoid to eat it due to high carbs in it, it may a danger for your heart.
• It is high in carbs which is not good for blood pressure overeating it may cause of high blood pressure in future.
• Grains have gluten which may lead your immune issues.
• increased hunger and a higher risk of overeating
• sharp rises in blood sugar
• headache and liver stress

Easy recipes:

• Salad: In a big pan add Spaghetti and water. Turn on the stove flame & put the pan on it on a high flame when bubbles start making. Cook it on medium-low flame & then, after cooking, turn off the flame & drain it with cold water. Put olive oil and mayonnaise in a bowl and beat it until it becomes smooth and fluffy. Add cool pasta to this bowl & mix it. Add some black pepper and salt according to taste. For topping you also can add some grated cheese to it.
• Easy Pea Pesto: In a big pan add elbow macaroni and water. Turn on the stove flame & put the pan on it on a high flame when bubbles start making. Cook it on medium-low flame. Then, after cooking, turn off the flame & drain it with cold water. 1 and a half cups of frozen peas, 2 teaspoons of lemon juice, 1 garlic clove, 35g parmesan cheese, ⅓ cup olive oil. Put all the ingredients in an electric beater and beat them. Beat until it becomes a smooth mixture if you want more liquid add some more oil. For storing put it in an airtight container and used it within 3 days. Put this mixture in a bowl and add cool pasta mix it and add a pinch of salt and black pepper.

• Mac ‘n’ Cheese: In a big pan add spaghetti and water. Turn on the stove flame. Put the pan on it on a high flame when bubbles start making. Cook it on medium-low flame & then, after cooking, turn off the flame & drain it with cold water. In a bowl add milk, 1 and a half cups of cheddar cheese, and pasta. Add into a slow cooker and cover with lid turn on the stove on low flame and cook on low flame for 3 hours and stir it between. On serving topped with grated cheese and black pepper.
• Sesame Noodles: In a big pan add Spaghetti and water. Turn on the stove flame & put the pan on it on a high flame when bubbles start making. Cook it on medium-low flame. Then, after cooking, turn off the flame. Took 1 cup of this soupy water from this pan, after cooking spaghetti. Drain spaghetti with cold water. In a bowl add peanut butter or cream & add lime juice or vinegar or grapes vinegar in it. After that whisk them together if you have the sauce is thick add reserved water in it and beat it for making a smooth mixture. Add spaghetti to it. Mix it until spaghetti coated with this sauce topped it with sesame.
• Wedding soup: In a big pan add elbow macaroni and water. Turn on the stove flame. Put the pan on it on a high flame when bubbles start making. Cook it on medium-low flame. 2 minutes before cooking add kale and spinach to it. Cook meatballs in a separate pan & before serving add these meatballs to elbow macaroni & topped it with grated cheese.

Cook & Store:

Fresh pasta can be stored in the refrigerator. It can only store for 1 week. Cook it in boiling water for 4-5 minutes.

Dry pasta stored in a dry and cool place. You also can store it for 1 year in an airtight container. Cook it in boiling water for 10-12 minutes.

Conclusion:

Pasta is a thing that everyone loves to eat it. It is a portion of healthy food. It gives you double the benefits when you eat it with veggies or fruits. Pasta is good for weight loss, for the heart and for many more diseases.