Pasta Pasta (, ; ) is a type of food typically made from an unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or eggs, and formed into sheets or other shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Rice flour, or legumes such as beans or lentils, are som ...

is a

staple food A staple food, food staple, or simply a staple, is a food that is eaten often and in such quantities that it constitutes a dominant portion of a standard diet for a given person or group of people, supplying a large fraction of energy needs and ...

of traditional

Italian cuisine Italian cuisine (, ) is a Mediterranean cuisine#CITEREFDavid1988, David 1988, Introduction, pp.101–103 consisting of the ingredients, recipes and List of cooking techniques, cooking techniques developed across the Italian Peninsula and late ...

, with the first reference dating to 1154 in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. It is also commonly used to refer to the variety of pasta dishes. Pasta is typically a

noodle Noodles are a type of food made from unleavened dough which is either rolled flat and cut, stretched, or extruded, into long strips or strings. Noodles are a staple food in many cultures (for example, Chinese noodles, Filipino noodles, Indo ...

traditionally made from an

unleavened In cooking, a leavening agent () or raising agent, also called a leaven () or leavener, is any one of a number of substances used in doughs and batters that cause a foaming action (gas bubbles) that lightens and softens the mixture. An alterna ...

dough Dough is a thick, malleable, sometimes elastic paste made from grains or from leguminous or chestnut crops. Dough is typically made by mixing flour with a small amount of water or other liquid and sometimes includes yeast or other leavening ag ...

durum wheat Durum wheat (), also called pasta wheat or macaroni wheat (''Triticum durum'' or ''Triticum turgidum'' subsp. ''durum''), is a Polyploid, tetraploid species of wheat. It is the second most cultivated species of wheat after common wheat, although ...

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many culture ...

mixed with water and formed into sheets and cut, or extruded into various shapes, then cooked and served in a number of dishes. It can be made with flour from other

cereal A cereal is any Poaceae, grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, Cereal germ, germ, and bran. Cereal Grain, grain crops are grown in greater quantit ...

s or

grains A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legume ...

, and

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

may be used instead of water. Each traditional pasta dish is defined by a specific kind of pasta, a specific cooking style, and a specific sauce or condiment. There are large number of evolutions and variants of the traditional dishes. Pasta is also often used as a complementary ingredient in some

soup Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot (but may be cool or cold), that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ing ...

s, but these are not considered "pasta dishes" (except for the category ''pasta in brodo'' or 'pasta in broth'). The various kinds of pasta are categorized as: ''pasta secca'' (dried pasta), ''pasta fresca'' (fresh pasta), ''pasta all’uovo'' (egg pasta), ''pasta ripiena'' (filled pasta or stuffed pasta, like ''

ravioli Ravioli (; singular: ''raviolo'', ) are a type of pasta comprising a filling enveloped in thin pasta dough. Usually served in broth or with a sauce, they originated as a traditional food in Italian cuisine. Ravioli are commonly square, though o ...

''), ''

gnocchi Gnocchi ( , , ; singular ''gnocco'') are a varied family of dumpling in Italian cuisine. They are made of small lumps of dough most traditionally composed of a simple combination of wheat flour, egg, salt, and potato. Variations of the dish supp ...

'' (soft dough dumplings). The cooking styles are categorized in: ''pasta asciutta'' (or ''pastasciutta'', in which the pasta is boiled and then dressed with a complementary sauce or condiment), ''

pasta al forno ("pasta to the oven", i.e. "baked pasta"), or , is a typical dish of Italian cuisine, made of (usually short) pasta covered with bechamel and tomato sauce and cheese and cooked in the oven. History Baked pasta can ideally be divided in two ...

'' (baked pasta, in which the pasta is incorporated into a dish, along with the sauce or condiment and subsequently

baked Baking is a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in an oven, but can also be done in hot ashes, or on hot stones. The most common baked item is bread but many other types of foods can be baked. Heat is gradually transferre ...

), and ''pasta in brodo'' (pasta in broth, in which the pasta is cooked and served in a

broth Broth, also known as bouillon (), is a savory liquid made of water in which meat, fish or vegetables have been simmered for a short period of time. It can be eaten alone, but it is most commonly used to prepare other dishes, such as soups, ...

, usually made of meat). Pasta sauces (mostly used for ''pasta asciutta'' and ''pasta al forno'') are categorized into two broad groups: ''sughi rossi'' (red sauces, with tomatoes) and ''sughi bianchi'' (white sauces, without tomatoes).

Italy

Other countries

Commercially-prepared dishes

Notes

References

Bibliography

* (first edition: 1930).

External links

National Museum of Pasta Foods – Rome, Italy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pasta List Lists of foods by type