Hooray! Pastaonthefloor.com loves National Pasta Day!  I know there is a holiday for almost anything from chocolate chip cookie day to pajama day. We just celebrated National Pug Day and we showered our pug Izzy with extra love and treats!

But pasta?  That is something to celebrate. There is actually a website in honor of this spectacular holiday, http://www.nationalpastaday.com/ . Check it out.

In an Italian family, there is often ‘discussion’ about how to make sauce or whether you should use fettuccini or linguini with clam sauce.  The debate over red sauce vs. white sauce will go on long after I am making pasta in Heaven. Does it matter? It is all good!

This website is a veritable cornucopia of pasta information.  For fun, I thought I would share some of the types of pasta they describe:

It is the shape of the noodle that gives pasta its name.  Some examples:
Spaghetti – cord                              Linguini – little tongues
Vermicelli – little worms               Conchiglie – shells
Rotini – spirals                                Fettucine – small ribbons
Ravioli – little turnips                    Capellini – fine hairs
Fusilli – little spindles                    Cannelloni – tubes
Tortellini – little cakes                    Penne – quills
Rigatoni – short, wide fluted tubes
Lasagna – broad, sometimes ruffled, ribbons of pasta

According to Wikipedia, “When cooked, plain pasta is composed of 62% water, 31% carbohydrates (26% starch), 6% protein, and 1% fat (table). A 100-gram portion of non-enriched cooked pasta provides 160 Calories and a moderate level of manganese (15% of the Daily Value), but few other micronutrients.” Ok buzz killer, I do not care.  Pasta or macaroni in my house, is God’s gift to broken hearts, broken bones and anything else that ails you.  No self-respecting dietician or personal trainer would deny a soul that sense of peace.

We are predominantly a De Cecco pasta house. Currently in my pantry I have Penne Rigate no.41, Orecchiette no.91 (ear), Rigatoni no.24, Linguine no.7, Fettuccine no.6 and Angel Hair no. 209.  I have DaVinci Bucatini and Spinach Nests. I scored a bag of Foglie Di Carciofo (artichoke leaves pasta), recipe to follow. My pantry supply is rounded out with small shells, medium shells and large shells for stuffing.  Lasagna noodles, no.397 including no boil in case of an emergency dinner.

For comfort and for soups: orzo, pastina, ditalini and tubettini.

So, fire up your stove, get that boiling water rolling and drop in some pasta.  You can add almost anything you have in your fridge and make it dinner. Salad and bread and you are in business.  Contact me if you need help making dinner. I’d love to expand your recipe horizons!