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Pasta, explained.

Everything you need to know in order to buy and prepare perfect pasta every time, including:

The history, different types, and nutritional value of pasta
A visual directory of the most popular types of pasta
Step-by-step instructions for making fresh fettucine from scratch

Pasta Basics

Pasta is made from dough that usually consists of a simple mix of flour and water, though the specific ingredients can vary widely.

Pasta Shapes

Pasta dough can be shaped and cut into dozens of different shapes, from long skinny strands (spaghetti) to flat sheets (lasagna) to bow ties (farfalle), and many more. For details on the many shapes of pasta and guidance on which shapes work best for certain pasta dishes, see Types of Pasta.

Pasta Ingredients

The ingredients used to make pasta vary primarily based on geography.

In the West: Pasta is most often made from durum wheat, a variety of hard wheat that’s rich in protein, with a high gluten content and a relatively low starch content. The wheat grain is sometimes separated (refined) before being ground into flour. Semolina is made from the middlings of hard wheat. Durum wheat tends to remain slightly granular when ground, producing firm pasta that does not stick. Whole wheat pasta, which is made from durum wheat in which the wheat grains are not refined, is more nutritious than pasta made from refined wheat grains. Whole wheat pasta has an earthier taste than refined pasta and also has a somewhat grainier texture.
In the East: Pasta usually takes the form of long noodles made from rice, buckwheat, or soft wheat flour, a type of flour used often in making pastries and cakes.

A wide array of other ingredients can also be found in different types of pasta including soybean and mung bean flours vegetables (such as spinach, tomatoes, beets, and carrots), gluten, whey, eggs, herbs, spices, and other flavorings.

Enriched Pasta

Pasta is often enriched with B vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin) and sometimes with iron. Also available on the market are high-protein pastas in which eggs and whey powder are added to the water and semolina mixture, greatly enhancing the natural protein content of the pasta. The fiber supplement in fiber-enriched pasta is provided through the addition of ground pea pods.

Egg Noodles

Egg noodles are a special type of pasta made just like durum wheat pasta but with added butter and milk. These added ingredients give egg noodles an almost creamy texture, but this also means that egg noodles have twice the fat content of durum and whole wheat pasta.

The Pasta-Making Process

The industrial production of pasta takes place in large, automated factories. The process usually goes as follows:

The flour or semolina is mixed with water and kneaded into a dough.
The dough is rolled out into thin sheets that will be further cut into strands or passed through extruding machines to be pressed into various shapes. After being shaped, the pasta is ready to be marketed as either fresh (undried) or dried pasta.
Dried pasta is exposed to hot airstreams that gradually reduce the water content of the pasta to about 12%. The drying process is delicate, because if it’s done too slowly, the pasta may develop mold; if it‘s done too rapidly, the final product will be cracked and brittle.

A Brief History of Pasta

Several countries claim credit for the invention of pasta, including China, Japan, France, and Italy. According to some sources, Marco Polo introduced pasta to Italy upon his return from China at the end of the 13th century. There is evidence that buckwheat, rice, wheat, and soybean noodles were consumed by the Chinese long before Marco Polo’s travels.

While the exact origins of pasta remain obscure, industrial fabrication is known to have begun in Naples at the beginning of the 15th century. Pasta did not become popular, though, until the 19th century, with the discovery of the process for drying pasta, which greatly improved its keeping qualities. According to 16th-century Italian historians, stuffed pasta was invented by an Italian peasant woman.

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