PASTA

'Pasta' is a type of food made from a dough using flour, water and/or eggs. The dough is shaped and can be stored. The pasta is boiled prior to consumption. There are many variations of shapes and ingredients that are all called pasta. Some English speakers say that pastas are a type of noodle. A few examples include spaghetti (solid cylinders), macaroni (tubes or hollow cylinders), lasagna (sheets).
Pasta can also denote dishes in which pasta products are the primary ingredient, served with sauce or seasonings. The word comes from Italian ''pasta'' which shares its origins with "paste", meaning "dough", "pasta", or "pastry" as in "small cake". As recently as 1918 the English word "paste" was used instead of or alongside the Italian ''pasta''.^[1]
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Contents

Ingredients

Preparation

History

Accompaniments

Pasta varieties

References

External links

See also

Ingredients

There are many ingredients that can be used to make pasta dough. They range from a simple flour and water mixture, to those that call for the addition of eggs, spices and cheeses to the dough.
Under Italian law, dry pasta can only be made from durum wheat semolina flour. This flour has a yellow tinge in color. Italian pasta is traditionally cooked ''al dente'' (Italian: "to the teeth", meaning not too soft). Abroad (notably in the