Italian Pasta
By Dave Fooder
When we hear the term Italian cuisine, the first name that comes in our mind is pasta. Though it was originated in Italy, it is famous worldwide. Pasta is like noodles, made from certain grain flours with water and/or eggs mixtures. Among the different shapes and forms of pasta there are string shaped pasta called spaghetti and vermicelli. There are also ribbon shaped fettuccine and linguine, short tube shaped elbow macaroni and penne, tiny shapes like couscous and orzo and large shapes like lasagna. There are hollow pastas also like ravioli, manicotti and tortellini. You can have them stuffed with fillings. The paste is kneaded to give different shapes and forms. Pasta can also be the dishes where pasta is an important ingredient and served with sauce or different seasonings. Gnocchi is one of these pasta dishes. But here different ingredients are used and cooking process is also different.

You can also find frozen pasta all over the world. More varieties of pastas are mainly found in the places where the Italians and their culture have deep impact. There are companies that produce packed pastas that can be fresh for 7 weeks.