Pasta, << PAHS tuh, >> is a food made chiefly from wheat products and water. It comes in more than 100 shapes and sizes. Some of the best known are macaroni, which consists of hollow tubes; spaghetti, which is made into long cords; and noodles, which are flat strips. Elbow macaroni has the shape of short, curved tubes, and shell macaroni resembles sea shells. Vermicelli is extremely thin spaghetti, and wide noodles are called lasagna noodles. Ravioli, another pasta product, consists of small, hollow squares stuffed with cheese or ground meat.
The word pasta is an Italian term meaning dough. The best pastas are made with semolina—the coarsely ground hard grain of durum wheat. Manufacturers mix the semolina or other flours with water and other ingredients to form a stiff dough. The dough is either pressed through a machine or rolled out and cut into the proper shapes. The pasta is then either dried with forced air until it is hard and brittle, or it is packaged as a fresh, refrigerated product.
Pasta products are rich in carbohydrates (starches) and are a fairly good source of protein. Enriched pasta contains iron and the B vitamins folic acid, niacin, riboflavin, and thiamine. Some pastas include such ingredients as milk or seasonings in addition to wheat products and water. Manufacturers add eggs to the pasta mixture to make egg noodles. Green pasta is made by mixing spinach with pasta dough.
Pasta dishes have been a specialty of Italian cooking since the 1200’s, but they are now popular throughout the world. The bland flavor of pasta makes it a suitable ingredient to mix with cheese, meat, tomato sauce, and other foods. Pasta is boiled until it is soft but slightly chewy. It can then be combined with other foods in casseroles or salads.
