1. Pasta

2. Pasta Ingredients
Pasta:
Made from semolina, which comes from the
insides of durum wheat (the most durable
type of wheat)

3. How It’s Made
Commercially:
By large machines
At Home:
By hand or by pasta machine

4. Cost
• Most dried, boxed pasta is low in cost
(And a little goes a long way!)
• Fresh or gourmet pastas can be more
expensive
(Think Buitoni pastas in the dairy section)

5. Storage
• Dried pasta should be stored in an air-tight
container, to avoid getting stale or wet
• Stored pasta will keep for about one year
• Never store cooked
pasta together with liquid
Why?

6. Cooking Starches
• During cooking, starch granules
absorb the water and swell
• This causes an increase in volume and the
granules to soften (gelatinization)
• Check pasta package for correct proportion
of water to use and cooking time

7. Preparing Pasta
• Bring 2 quarts of water to boil for every 8
oz. of pasta you’re preparing (2 qts : 8 oz)
• Pasta should be allowed to move freely as it
cooks, so use an appropriately sized pot!
• Pasta should be cooked
until firm, but not hard
(al dente: “to the tooth” )

8. And a Little of This…
Add salt as you’re bringing water to a boil…
Why?
Add olive oil to boiling pasta…
Why??

9. Nutrition
1 cup enriched 1 cup whole wheat
spaghetti: spaghetti:
220 Calories 174 Calories
1 gram Fat 1 gram Fat
43 grams Carbs 37 grams Carbs
3 grams Fiber 6 grams Fiber
8 grams Protein 7 grams Protein

10. Carbs: The Good, the
Bad, and the Ugly
“Good Carbs” = Whole Grain/Complex Carbs
Whole grains, pastas, and breads are high in fiber and nutrients
and provide energy
Complex carbohydrates stabilize blood sugar levels instead of
spiking them
“Bad Carbs” = Enriched Foods and Refined Sugars
(white bread, enriched pastas, candy, soda)