For the Love of Pasta: History, Recipes, Nutrition & Lore!

“This macaroni is to be eaten looking skywards, where its taste brings about ecstasy, with a thought to God for his divine providence."                                             Bartolomeo Nardini, Partenope in cucina

Today is world pasta day, a holiday established in 1965 to promote pasta as a global food at the World Pasta Congress! Often dismissed as “poor man’s food,”  real, authentic, pasta is much more than a way to stave off hunger. Pasta is as integral to the Italian cultural landscape as art, fashion, design, opera, and other innovations are.  According to legend, when Giuseppe Garibaldi first tasted Spaghetti al Pomodoro in Mileto di Porto Salvo, Calabria, he declared that it would be the dish that unified all of Italy. He actually sold pasta in Uruguay before leading his troops to take control of Italy from the Bourbons, and unifying the nation himself. While his claim may seem like an exaggeration to many, it pales in comparison to the 17^th century Duke of Bovino stating that “the angels in paradise eat nothing but” the same dish!

To Italians, pasta is a food capable of evoking pride, passion, love, desire, and hunger simultaneously.  There are over 500 different pasta shapes in Italy, with numerous toppings, accompaniments, and sauces to be paired with. In modern times, many artisan pasta traditions are falling by the way-side. Restaurant chefs don’t often have the occasion to learn the time-honored techniques that Italian housewives passed down from generation to generation.  Younger people are often too busy with their careers to spend hours making fresh pasta. The heart of regional Italian cooking, however, is best expressed through local pasta varieties.  Although we represent different sides of the industry, Chef Luigi Diotaiuti and I jump at any chance to preserve and promote our favorite culinary product. Click here to read an article we wrote on the Pasta Making Traditions of Basilicata and Calabria for Popular Anthology magazine. 

Discussing Pasta & Cheese Making of Basilicata & Calabria for the Culinary Historians of Washington

 

“Everything you see, I owe to spaghetti.”  Sophia Loren

Pasta with Beans from Luigi's cookbook

When prepared the right way, pasta can also be part of a healthful diet. Click here to read an article highlighting the health benefits of pasta. Here are some of my tips for integrating pasta into a health conscious lifestyle:

1.      Learn to make homemade sauces using fresh vegetables.

2.      Prepare fresh pasta with healthful ingredients.

3.      Eat smaller portions of pasta as a first course.

4.      Use grano duro, a hard winter wheat flour when making pasta, made from durum wheat it contains a higher amount of protein (16%), B vitamins, folic acid, and phosphorous, as well as six of nine essential amino acids, making it a great choice for vegetarians, with no cholesterol.

5.      If you can find it, flour or pasta made from Senatore Capelli wheat is high in vitamins, minerals, lipids, and proteins, and has been found to be safe for some people with gluten intolerances.

Nowadays, with the gluten free diets becoming increasingly popular, more people than ever are swearing off pasta. I even had to include a gluten-free version of each and every authentic Italian recipe in my upcoming Italian Diabetes Cookbook. Fortunately, alternative grains can be used to reproduce traditional recipes, as they have been for centuries, with success. A study at the University of Piacenza, in Italy, found that many people suffering from Celiac Disease consumed diets with a higher glycemic index than normal, and that following a gluten free diet often led to weight gain. To make gluten free pastas more healthful, they suggest using bean and legume based flours in its preparation.



Gluten free pasta in The Ultimate Mediterranean Diet Cookbook

Some suggestions for delicious, gluten-free pasta:


1. Use spaghetti squash or zucchini in place of traditional pasta.

2.  Purchase pasta made from legume based flours.

3. Make fresh pasta from legume based flours - High in protein (19%), selenium, iron, zinc, mineral salts and antioxidants, this powerful grain has also been proven to balance blood sugar levels, making it a popular choice with diabetes. While Tuscan cooks use it to make pizzoccheri pasta and crespelle (crepes).  In Calabria, a buckwheat pasta similar to linguine, called struncatura, has been enjoyed for centuries.

Here is a recipe for a Sformato con melanzane, a molded eggplant pasta dish from Luigi’s Al Tiramisu Restaurant Cookbook that we served at a booksigning we held last year:

Luigi's Sformato di Melanzane from The Al Tiramisu Restaurant Cookbook

Sformato con melanzane/Baked Eggplant and Pasta Sformato

"Every time I make this sformato, a vivid image of my sisters Maria, Lina, and Giuseppina comes to mind. I was much younger than they and I remember looking up to them in awe as they prepared this irresistible dish and the kitchen filled up with the scent of the eggplant and sauces as they baked and integrated. "

Sformato is an example of the long Italian tradition of creativity with leftovers. This dish requires two types of sauces, meat ragù and beciamella, basics often found ready-made in the refrigerator of an Italian kitchen. When you plan to make this dish, it’s wise to make the sauces in advance, enjoy them on pasta or in lasagne and reserve the required portions for this recipe. That way you won’t need to start from scratch.

This will always be a down-home dish for me, yet when I make it today guests are invariably impressed by its luscious flavor and gorgeous appearance. It makes a great dish for entertaining. You can prepare it in one large portion or in individual-size ramekins for an elegant presentation."

Serves 8
Ingredients

1 pound eggplant
2 tablespoons salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
4 tablespoons Fresh Breadcrumbs
½ pound short pasta (such as penette or ditalini), cooked al dente, according to package directions
1 cup Meat Sauce
3 cups Béchamel Sauce
¼ pound smoked mozzarella, cut into small cubes
¼ pound fontina cheese, cut into small cubes
4 hardboiled eggs, chopped
2 ounces prosciutto or salami made from wild boar and pork, cut into small cubes (vegetarians can omit)

Preparation

Cut the eggplant into 1/8-inch thick slices. Place them on a large platter or baking sheet and sprinkle each piece with salt. Let stand for at least 30 minutes. When they have released liquid, rinse well, and place in a colander.
Pour 2 cups of flour into a large, shallow dish. Dredge the eggplant in the flour to cover and set on a platter.

Heat the olive oil in a large, wide skillet over medium- high heat. Add the eggplant and brown on both sides (about 3 to 5 minutes per side).
Preheat the oven to 375˚F.
With the butter grease a 12-inch oval baking dish or individual ramekins, if using.
 Scatter the bread crumbs evenly along the sides and bottom of the baking dish.

 Place eggplant slices along the bottom and sides of the dish – overlapping pieces to cover the entire areas. (Eventually the sformato will be turned upside down and unmolded so be sure to cover the dish completely with the eggplant slices and to arrange them neatly.)
Place the cooked pasta in a large bowl.
Add the Meat Sauce, the Béchamel Sauce, smoked mozzarella, fontina, hardboiled eggs, and prosciutto or salami. Mix well.
Spoon the pasta mixture evenly into the eggplant-lined baking dish. The pasta mixture should not reach the top of the dish or it will overflow while baking.
Bake until slightly golden, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for at least 10 minutes.
To unmold, run a knife along the sides of the baking dish and place a large platter on top of the baking dish. Carefully invert the pan onto the dish, tapping on the bottom with a knife handle or wooden spoon, to remove the sformato.
To serve, cut the sformato into slices, plating them with the eggplant side up.




Luigi at Pasta Lab 2013 in Basilicata, Italy

Luigi’s efforts to preserve pasta recipes on the verge of being forgotten are many. He travels to Italy yearly to conduct Pasta Lab, an event which paired professional chefs with housewives in Basilicata, Italy to rescue local artisan pasta making recipes. He then promotes the recipes by serving them to high profile clients at his Washington, DC restaurant Al Tiramisu and at events such as his Beauty of Basilicata dinner at The James Beard House. In addition to offering traditional recipes on the verge of being forgotten on his restaurant menu and in his cookbook, he has also begun demonstrating these dishes around the United States. 



Luigi at DC Central Kitchen in Washington, DC

Recently he has begun taking his mission one step further and introduces DC Chefs his beloved Italian recipes at DC Central Kitchen. America’s leader in reducing hunger with recycled food, training unemployed adults for culinary careers, and serving healthy school lunches. They serve 5,000 free meals a day in our nation’s capital. Now, thanks to Luigi, artisan pasta recipes known to few, are part of their repertoire.
 

It is a privilege to be able to represent our cultural and culinary roots around the globe. To be able to share what we love is the ultimate joy. May this post inspire you to include time honored pasta techniques – rich in nostalgia, tradition, and nutrients into your own lifestyle.