Preface: Read this article to learn the importance of pasta and the way to cook it.

In its various forms, pasta has become a part of almost every country. Some say that Marco Polo brought the idea of pasta from China to Europe, but archaeological evidence has shown that it had been in both places long before then, so after doing a great deal of study, I found that nobody really knows for sure what culture pasta truly came from (if it was just one).

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Many people think of pasta as regular egg noodles, spaghetti, macaroni, and lasagna, but once you start looking around, there are many more completely different varieties. In Asia alone, although some of their noodles are wheat-based, they use a great amount of rice noodles, but also some with a variety of other starches. These other starches include such things as potato flour, buckwheat flour, and mungbean starch, and may be eaten either hot or cold. Noodles in Asia are generally cooked by steaming, stir-frying, and even deep frying. They also have a large variety of different dumplings, which would also classify as pasta. Germans have their spaetzle, which is made with flour, eggs, water (or milk), and salt, made very soft and pushed through a colander into boiling water, then tossed with butter sauce, soups, and other dishes. In Poland they have their pierogi, half-moon shaped pork filled dumplings.

The most common Italian-style pasta refers to a dough made with semolina (durum wheat) flour mixed with water or milk and sometimes eggs. Semolina is the superior flour that is used because it doesn’t absorb too much water and is perfect when properly cooked al dente (just slightly firm). The most common source of pasta is dried, and when looking for the best brand of dried pasta, even Italians in Italy admit that Barilla is the best brand. When I was in Italy, some friends I made there were surprised that Barilla was popular here since it is so good.

It’s really not all that difficult to make fresh pasta either. All you need to buy is a pasta roller and the few basic ingredients. Generally, with fresh pasta, eggs are used as the liquid to better hold the more delicate pasta together. You can also experiment by adding other ingredients, such as adding herbs, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, or even some sweeter ingredients for a dessert pasta. When you add extra ingredients, be careful with how much liquid you add to the pasta, as with many ingredients (such as spinach) you will need less liquid. Since the pasta is rolled out as small as it is, it’s best to puree the added ingredients rather than leaving them chunky. Contrary to dried pasta’s almost indefinite shelf life, fresh pasta is best only within a few days of making it unless you freeze it or dry it yourself. Your pasta roller should come with directions on how to roll out the pasta. You can cut the pasta into a variety of shapes and sizes, and even make fillings and form the pasta into raviolis, tortellini, or other common (and not so common) shapes.

When cooking pasta ALWAYS make sure the water is boiling heavily and that there is a much larger quantity of water than pasta, as if both of those conditions don’t exist, the pasta will release too much starch and become sticky. Also, make sure you salt the water. Although it was a slight exaggeration, one chef I worked under always informed us how (in a real deep accent) “ze water must taste like ze sea.” You should always salt your water (taste the water to make sure it’s the right consistency), as that adds greatly to the flavor of the pasta.

There is a large variety of pasta sauces you can use as well. For a lighter summer dish, you may want to use a simple broth, aglio e olio (garlic and hot olive oil) sauce, Checca (lightly toast some garlic in olive oil then add basil and tomatoes until warm, season) sauce, or maybe a pesto (an uncooked puree of basil, garlic, and parmesan, then adding olive oil to your preferred consistency - for pasta you can also finish it with cream) sauce. For not so light pasta dishes, you can use a carbonara (make a basic cream sauce starting it with cooking bacon until very crispy and finishing it with romano cheese) sauce, alfredo (basic cream sauce finished with parmesan) sauce, a variety of other cream sauces, bolognese (meat sauce) sauce, marinara (a cooked tomato sauce made with garlic, onions, and herbs) sauce, other tomato-based sauces, and many more.

You can combine in the sauce and/or garnish pasta with a variety of ingredients. The most common meats include Italian sausage, chicken, seafood, ham, duck confit, anchovies, and beef. Other common ingredients include parmesan (or other) cheese, grilled or roasted vegetables (large dice various vegetables, toss them in oil, garlic, salt & pepper, and roast them quickly to golden brown in a VERY hot oven), roasted pepper strips, mushrooms, and a variety of herbs.

Pasta is such a versatile ingredient that it has an almost endless amount of variations that can be used in some sense in almost any theme of a meal or restaurant.

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Making your own pasta is not difficult. It’s actually very easy.

But you may wonder why would you make your own pasta, when you can buy it pre-packed, and ready to cook?

Well, one reason is that by making your own, you eat fresh pasta. There is a difference of taste and texture between fresh pasta and pre-packed pasta.

But there is another reason: if you make your own pasta, you may want to use nutritius ingredients, ensuring that your pasta not only tastes good, but it is also low in fat, and generally good for you.

For instance, you may want to make your own low fat pasta with unrefined flour, ensuring that your pasta is rich in fibre and B complex Vitamins.

For instance, you may want to make your own low fat pasta with unrefined flour, ensuring that your pasta is rich in fibre and B complex Vitamins.

Finally, learning to make your own basic pasta dough is the first skill towards preparing other (more advanced?) types of pasta dishes like lasagna, raviolli, tortellini, and that type of thing.

It’s not such a difficult thing to do, and it can be a fun process.

You see, normally you make pasta with refined wheat flour, eggs and salt.

But if you want low fat pasta, you need to use water instead of eggs, and you have to give salt a miss.

This recipe makes about 750 g of low fat pasta (about 1.5 pounds), and it takes about 50 minutes to make.

To make your own low fat basic pasta you need:

* 500 g (1 pound) of strong wholemeal flour

* 275 ml (a bit over a cup) of water.

This is what you do:

First, put the flour in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the middle (like a volcano, sort of thing).

Then, pour in the water, and mix with a knife till the dough binds.

After that, you start mixing with your hands and knead it till all the flour is evenly incorporated into the dough.

Move the dough to a kitchen bench, and knead it for about 10 minutes, till it becomes smooth and elastic.

Next, put the dough into a plastic (zip lock) bag and leave it there for about 30 minutes.

Then, take a quarter of the dough and roll it out by hand on a slightly floured surface. Roll it very thin. Leave it to rest and dry before using it.

Freeze whatever you don’t use. It will remain good for up to 3 months.

You will be able to use this basic low fat pasta to make many of my delicious recipes.

Have you ever wondered how a restaurant can get a dish of pasta to your table in about four minutes when you know it takes ten minutes just to cook the pasta? Does the water on their stoves boil at a higher temperature than the water on yours? Do they know a trick that you don’t? As a matter of fact, they do.

They parboil, or partially pre-cook their pasta; so when an order comes in to the kitchen, a cook can turn out a dish of perfectly ‘al dente’ pasta in a minute or two. Pre-cooking is a worthwhile technique for home cooks, because it enables them to pull together a great sit-down meal in practically no time, no matter how busy their day may have been.

It’s also a great method to use when you plan to serve pasta for a crowd. I once catered a party for fifty, where I had a “pasta bar.” With the assistance of one helper, and two propane burners, I served fifty portions of freshly cooked pasta (al dente) without holding anyone up in the buffet line.

To parboil pasta at home, bring a large pot of salted water (at least six quarts) to the boil. Add one pound of pasta and stir until the pasta wilts (in the case of spaghetti or linguine) and becomes submerged. When the water returns to a full, rolling boil, cook the pasta for exactly two minutes, then drain, shock in ice water, and drain again. Note: Strand pasta like spaghetti or linguine will be brittle, so handle them with care.

Place the pasta in a container large enough to hold it, then add enough olive oil to just coat each strand. Cover and refrigerate until needed. Parboiled pasta will keep, refrigerated, for four to six hours.

Note: Coating pasta with olive oil flies in the face of conventional wisdom that says, “Never coat pasta with olive oil. The sauce won’t adhere to the pasta.” Well, conventional wisdom aside, sauce sticks to parboiled pasta like glue. What else can I say?

When it’s time to cook dinner, bring a large pot of salted water to the boil, add the pasta (You’ll note that the pasta has softened over the time you’ve had it refrigerated. This is perfectly fine.), cook for one or two minutes, then drain in a colander. Be sure to taste after a minute or so. The pasta cooks quickly. Serve as you would any pasta that you had cooked for eight to ten minutes.

Again, this is a great, worthwhile technique to use at home, because you can parboil the pasta at a time of day when you’re not juggling three or four other tasks, like preparing a sauce, or a salad. And when it’s time to prepare the rest of dinner, you’ll feel more confident in the outcome, because you can focus more of your attention on the other parts of the meal.

Try this technique once, and you could be hooked. You may not be serving fifty or sixty people per night, but you’ll be cooking just like a chef in a neighborhood Italian restaurant.

Skip Lombardi is the author of two cookbooks: “La Cucina dei Poveri: Recipes from my Sicilian Grandparents,” and “Almost Italian: Recipes from America”s Little Italys.” He has been a Broadway musician, high-school math teacher, software engineer, and a fledgeling blogger. But he has never let any of those pursuits get in the way of his passion for cooking and eating. Visit his Web site to learn more about his cookbooks. www.skiplombardi.com or mailto:info@skiplombardi.com.

Nothing beats a plate of truly fresh pasta. And now it’s easy to roll out your own at home. Pasta makers come in manual and electric varieties. You can also get pasta making accessories for your stand mixer. Fresh pasta does make a difference in both taste and texture. Home made is more tender and chewy. With a pasta maker making pasta is not hard. A couple hours on the weekend and you’re good for the week.

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