"national pasta day" news and stories

Happy National Pasta Day!

Artfully captured by blogger Patent and the Pantry above, good pasta is a filling base for tasteful ingredients, adding substance and texture but allowing simple flavors to pop, like those of brussels sprouts and pancetta -- and, when made fresh, stands just as well on its own, with the mere addition of butter, salt and pepper. Anything beyond is just icing on the cake.

As much as pasta is thought of as a quintessentially Italian specialty, it's believed it was introduced to the country during Arab invasions circa the 12th century, when dried noodles started appearing in Sicily. Although the pasta can still be homemade, it is most often purchased fresh or dried, due to the time-consuming assembly time involved. But beware: Once you've had a taste of to fresh pasta, you may never want to return to the dried variety.

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I've been cutting down on carbs lately and looking for an excuse to have a big plate of spaghetti topped with sauce and grated parmesan cheese. Hello National Pasta Day!

I could spend the entire day just doing posts for pasta, it's such a versatile food, but I can't do that. Instead, here are several pasta recipes from various sites, including Epicurious, AllRecipes, RecipeZaar, Food Network, The Reluctant Gourmet and The National Pasta Association.

And don't forget the sauce! Here are several recipes from About.com and this one from MealsMatter.org for Southwestern Pasta Sauce.