Pasta is one of the oldest food products that people created with their own hands. Pieces of dried dough were first used for cooking food as early as the 1st century BC. Today the market offers a huge number of types of pasta.
It is impossible to list all types of pasta. In Rome, there is even a museum of this food product, where in 11 rooms the story is told, the secrets of making pasta (pasta). There is such a museum in Japan, not as large-scale as the Italian one, but no less informative. It will be useful for any housewife to visit them in order to learn the history of pasta, to get acquainted with their main types and nuances of cooking.
What is pasta
The main ingredients of this product are wheat flour and water. There are a huge number of ways to make pasta. The way of mixing the main components, the technology of forming and drying the dough, the types of additives used and even the origin of the flour, the peculiarities of its grinding, affect what type of pasta will turn out in the end.
Different peoples have different ways of making pasta. Buckwheat, rice flour, bean starch, or other ingredients can be used instead of or in conjunction with wheat flour. The color of pasta can be changed using dyes of various origins - from cuttlefish ink to spinach or beet juice.
The world of pasta is diverse, and for those passionate about cooking and healthy eating, there is always something to learn and experiment with. And in order for the experiments to be always successful, it is necessary to study all types of pasta, step-by-step recipes for their preparation.
Types of pasta
The classification of this food is one of the most difficult. The type of pasta is determined by the type of flour it is based on, how it was cooked and dried, its appearance (shape) and other characteristics. In industry and commerce, the main classification method is the form of pasta. It includes 6 categories:
- long products,
- short pasta,
- curly,
- for baking,
- soup,
- stuffing products.
For each of the categories, there are GOSTs and manufacturing standards, recipes, preparation methods. As a rule, inexpensive types of pasta are widely sold. But there are also those that can be tasted only in expensive restaurants, and the dishes from them are prepared by the chefs. The secret is that the cost of dishes is influenced not by the price of the pasta itself, but by the way they are prepared and served, additional ingredients - sauces, meat.
How to cook pasta correctly
The secret of the taste of pasta dishes lies not only in their type and grade, but also in how they were prepared. At first glance, what could be easier than throwing dried dough into boiling water and boiling until tender. Experienced housewives will name several cooking nuances at once that affect the taste of the dish - the amount of water and salt per 100 g of pasta (1 liter), boiling time, washing technology, and others.
You can dip pasta only in boiling water. If the water temperature is below 100˚C, the product will stick together and turn into a homogeneous mass that cannot be separated. Some housewives use such a trick - they add not only salt to the water, but also a little oil - butter or vegetable.
Stir the pasta constantly during cooking. The cooking time depends on the raw materials and the thickness of the products, and usually ranges from 7 to 12 minutes, but no more. The degree of readiness is determined by the "per tooth" test. The finished pasta is elastic but not sticky.
What products are pasta combined with
The myth that pasta makes you fat has long been dispelled by nutritionists and adherents of proper nutrition. A huge number of delicious and low-calorie dishes can be prepared from this product. Pasta goes well with
- vegetables and salads from them,
- all kinds of meat and seafood,
- homemade soft cheeses and mushrooms,
- herbs and herbs.
The classic pasta sauce is a sauce based on tomato paste. It can be anything - spicy and spicy. An interesting culinary solution is to “season” the pasta dish with a sauce from the mayonnaise category, but with a low calorie content, without dairy ingredients in the composition.
Unusually delicious dishes are obtained from pasta and meat, but nutritionists do not recommend combining proteins and carbohydrates in one meal. For those who cannot refuse, for example, ordinary navy-style pasta and similar dishes, it is recommended to season them with a large amount of vegetables that activate digestion - beets, cabbage, onions. There are a lot of recipes formed according to this principle.
How to choose the right pasta
Only the right pasta will allow you to prepare delicious meals and benefit the body. There are many tips for choosing them and step-by-step instructions. Which ones are correct and which ones are not? The best option is to follow the 6 rules for choosing pasta from chefs:
- as a part of no more than 3 components,
- the product is based on durum wheat,
- the surface of the pasta is smooth,
- color from amber to yellow-golden,
- 100 g of product contains not less than 12 and not more than 15 g of protein,
- high cost (we choose only "premium" varieties).
It is important to know that good pasta, regardless of the type, is not easy to break. If there is a large amount of debris in the pack, it is better to refuse to buy it. Particular attention should be paid not only to the product itself, but also to the packaging - it must be completely or partially transparent so that you can see the pasta.
Experts, both chefs and doctors, do not recommend buying pasta by weight in supermarkets. If you really want to buy such products by weight, in order to save money, then it is better to do this in specialized stores, where the rules for selling products are strictly observed - they are sorted into individual packages in the presence of the client using special trays.
