Do you know your pasta?

When you walk down the pasta aisle at the market, how do you choose which pasta to buy and which one to use for what? There are flat pasta, round pasta, hollow pasta and twisted pasta. There is pasta made to look like rice (Italian orzo) and pasta that looks like gnocchi (potato dumplings). There are shells and tubes and then there is pasta that is made into shapes to suit the season.

Do you want to serve your pasta with tomato sauce, Alfredo sauce (cream sauce), spring (with lightly roasted spring vegetables? Do you want stuffed pasta and, if so, what do you fill it with? Do you want pasta made from semolina, flour common or gluten-free like corn pasta or rice? Do you want squid ink pasta, spinach pasta or tomato paste or just pasta? The more you learn about pasta, the more you need to know and the more puzzled you can get.

The best quality pasta is made from semolina (durum wheat) and eggs with maybe a little salt and a little olive oil. There are all kinds of pasta and prices from one dollar per pound to $ 10 per pound or more. for handmade pasta. Before we go nuts here and get your mind spinning with all the available pastas, let's get down to the basics and explain the differences between the most commonly used pastas, how they are normally used, and the types of sauces that go well with them.

We will start with the flat pasta that includes lasagna, linguine, fettuccini and papparadelle. Dried lasagna noodles are generally approximately 2-3 "wide and can be purchased in raw or pre-cooked boxes. Domestic lasagna noodles are longer than imported ones, however, most imported lasers are of better quality. You can usually also buy fresh pasta that can be used for lasagna from your local Italian deli.The lasagna can be served simply with a Bolognese sauce (meat) with grated Parmesan or more traditionally as a layered casserole. for lasagna it can vary from marinara (tomato) to bolognese, mushroom, vegetarian or seafood. There will usually be a layer of pasta, a layer of ricotta cheese, a layer of sauce and a layer of mozzarella. Sometimes pasta and cheese They are layered without the sauce and the sauce is added when serving.

The narrowest flat pasta is linguine; linguine is a long, narrow (roughly "wide") pasta that can be served with any number of sauces. A favorite served with linguine is clams in a white wine sauce or a spicy red sauce. The next size is fettuccini, which It is usually served with an Alfredo sauce (cream or bchamel) made with butter, heavy cream and Parmesan. It is absolutely delicious, easy and simple to make and full of calories. It is not for those who have to watch their cholesterol consumption!

Aside from lasagna, papparadelle are the widest at about an inch wide. Papparadelle can be served with almost any type of sauce. Papparadelle especially goes with spring vegetables, as they provide a good contrast to the vegetables and are substantive enough to provide contrasting texture and flavor to the vegetables.

Probably the most widely used pasta in the United States is spaghetti. Even with spaghetti, there are different widths that are generally chosen depending on individual preference. There is angel hair or it is the thinnest of pasta and also the most difficult to cook. Overcooking will turn angel hair into porridge and make it very difficult, if not impossible, to handle. In the past, when one mentioned spaghetti, it was generally served with meatballs. With the advent of the culinary revolution, spaghetti can and is served in many different ways, again at the taste of the people involved.