Serves: 5
Pasta is an American favorite. What makes it so popular is that it’s convenient to store, it’s easy to fix and it’s good for you. Check out the Food Guide Pyramid you’ll find pasta in the broad bottom band, the band that calls for six to eleven servings per day. One-half cup of cooked pasta contains about 100 calories, 0.5 grams of fat and less than 5 milligrams of sodium.But there’s more to pasta than convenience and good nutrition: It’s just plain fun to cook with. Who can resist a cool salad made with radiator-shaped pasta or a hearty soup dotted with shell-shaped pasta? You can bake pasta and fill it, toss it in a salad, stir-fry it, layer it or smother it in sauce.And if you are looking for flavors, pasta has it! Pasta flavors range from the common--spinach, tomato and whole wheat--to the exotic--beet, lemon, herb, garlic, hot chili, red wine, chocolate, fruit and squid ink.So how is pasta made? Dried pasta, the most common kind, is made from semolina flour, which is ground from durum wheat. The flour is mixed with water, or sometimes egg, to form a dough. The dough is kneaded, then pushed through a metal disk with holes in it to create the incredible variety of pasta shapes. Then the pasta is dried. Whether made at a pasta factory or in your own kitchen, the process is the same.Picking Out PastaPasta is available in three forms: dried, fresh and frozen. Dried pasta is usually found packaged or in self-serve bulk bins. Look for fresh pasta in the refrigerated section of your supermarket. Some varieties of frozen pasta are lasagna noodles, egg noodles and filled tortellini and ravioli.When buying pasta, keep these tips in mind: - Dried pasta: Look for unbroken pieces. Avoid dried pasta with a marbled surface (many fine lines) this indicates a drying problem, and the pasta may fall apart during cooking.- Fresh pasta: Look for smooth, evenly colored, unbroken pieces. Fresh pasta will look dry, but it shouldn’t be brittle or crumbly. Avoid packages with moisture droplets or liquid, because the pasta may be moldy or mushy.- Frozen pasta: Avoid packages with the pieces frozen together in a solid block, as well as those with ice crystals or freezer burn, which looks like dry, white spots.
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From "Betty Crocker's Complete Cookbook, Everything You Need to Know to Cook Today, 9th Edition." Text Copyright 2000 General Mills, Inc. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |