Pasta

Pasta is one of the basic foods of the Mediterranean diet, it is widespread in most of the cuisines of the world and it is also one of the most common ingredients for first courses of all kinds. For pasta we refer to that of semolina, easily available in every supermarket, ready in a few minutes and extremely versatile: on the tables of Italians there is always a good plate of pasta with sauce or lasagna! Not to mention that it is very easy to prepare: to cook the pasta, just boil it in salted boiling water and then season it with sauces and sauces to your liking.

Pasta: composition and types

The most common pasta is made with semolina or durum wheat semolina: it represents the vast majority of pasta used for domestic consumption and is usually called dry pasta. Based on the amount of ash, it is possible to define it as semolina, semolina or whole wheat, while the humidity must always be 12.50%. Production takes place in different regions of Italy, especially in the south in Puglia and Campania.

The formats on the market follow two main types: short pasta and long pasta. The first category includes formats such as penne and pennette, fusilli, farfalle and all other types of pasta of a more or less reduced size; the long pasta includes spaghetti, linguine, bucatini, vermicelli and other types of pasta that can be rolled between the prongs of a fork.

Other types of pasta are as follows:

• fresh pasta: to be consumed in a much shorter period of time than the dry one. Homemade pasta and stuffed pasta such as tortellini, agnolotti and ravioli belong to this category;
• egg pasta: it contains whole eggs without shell in the dough, it is ideal for obtaining lasagna and noodles.

By convention, preparations obtained from other ingredients than durum wheat are also called “pasta”, such as rice flour pasta, buckwheat pasta, legume pasta and other types of gluten-free pasta.

Nutritional values ​​of pasta

Pasta is one of the main sources of carbohydrates, as it is extremely rich in it. Its caloric intake is quite high, with around 371 kcal per 100 grams of dry pasta from durum wheat semolina. The pasta contains gluten, and is therefore a food to be avoided by all those suffering from celiac disease: however, it is possible to buy gluten-free pasta made up of other ingredients than semolina both in specialized food stores and in the appropriate sections present in each supermarket.