Pasta

The Italian cuisine is rich and varied in all its aspects, but pasta has been its pride and glory through much of its history. Pasta is an Italian food made from dough using flour, water, egg is an optional ingredient. There are many variations of shapes and ingredients that are all called pasta. A few examples include spaghetti (solid cylinders), macaroni (tubes or hollow cylinders), fusilli (swirls), and lasagna (sheets). Pasta can also denote dishes in which pasta products are the primary ingredient, served with sauce or seasonings. The tiniest shapes are often used in soups, long ribbons or strands with sauces, and tubes and fanciful shapes in casseroles and pasta salads. Some shapes are large enough to be stuffed and baked, and others, like ravioli, come already stuffed. Pasta normally is white-yellow, but other colours exist.