Please Pass The Pasta

As a kid, this Italian Diva fondly remembers "Pasta Night" being the twice-a-week highlight—every Sunday and Wednesday, like clockwork. Holidays? Ha! Whether it was Christmas, New Year's, or even Groundhog Day, if it was a pasta night, the pasta parade marched on! Nothing else stood a chance against our carb-filled devotion.

My Sicilian dad was the pasta police, enforcing the law of the noodle. Meanwhile, my mom tried to sneak in some American flair with Thanksgiving turkey and the like, but dad was all about the pasta. And honestly, after inhaling my mom's legendary ravioli and braciole (a holiday staple), nobody dared dream of anything that wasn't Italian. Pasta was our gospel!

Pasta comes in over 300 shapes and sizes and is cherished worldwide. As a child, my exasperated mom struggled with my very particular eating habits. The only pasta I would eat was ziti, shells, or rigatoni.

I'm not embarrassed to admit that this Italian Diva is still a bit of a pasta connoisseur; I never purchase the dried (no egg) pasta from the store because nothing compares to making a fresh batch of rich-tasting egg pasta.

Every time I stroll through the grocery store's chilly section and spot those brands boasting "contains fresh eggs," I can't help but chuckle. Are they secretly using powdered eggs and hoping we won't notice? Seriously, how can a pasta product claim to have fresh eggs when it's been through more travel than your last vacation, from factories to ships, trucks, and finally your dinner plate?

Turns out, they suck the liquid insides out of fresh eggs and turn it into magical egg dust so it can chill on a shelf for eternity!

Isn't it just a warm, fuzzy feeling to know our food superhero, the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture), is "watching over" us? Thanks to their vigilant efforts, countless companies have the all-clear to create culinary masterpieces with a charming blend of harmful and toxic chemicals, fillers, and preservatives—over 10,000 in our grub! It's like a five-star recipe for early aging and diseases. Bon appétit!

Just so you know, Italy has given preservatives the boot! So, if gluten is your arch-nemesis, you might just find a truce while enjoying pasta in the land of pizza and gelato.

So, where did pasta really come from? Spoiler alert: It wasn’t Marco Polo’s suitcase souvenir! Contrary to popular belief, Marco Polo didn’t stroll into Italy and declare, “Buongiorno, here’s some pasta!” Nope, the Mediterranean folks were already spinning their spaghetti like experts long before he arrived. And those Chinese noodles Marco Polo brought back? They were rice-based and had about as much in common with Italian pasta as a fish does with a bicycle!

The Renaissance was Italy's version of a culinary makeover show, and guess who stole the spotlight? The tomato, of course! It made its dramatic debut courtesy of the Spanish, who were the head chefs in Naples. Before you could shout "pasta al pomodoro," tomatoes were sashaying into every Italian dish like they owned the place!

Try your hand at homemade pasta, and you might just wave goodbye to the supermarket, saying, "pasta la vista, baby!" But if you'd prefer to avoid a flour-coated kitchen disaster, join one of my cooking classes in my sparkling new chef's kitchen. In the mood to mingle? Throw a cooking party at your place! Whichever route you choose, prepare for giggles and delicious nibbles aplenty.

"Una vita senza buon cibo, non è vita" (A life without good food is not life). Mangia!

For pasta classes and my personal recipes, visit my website www.theitaliandiva.com