What is the difference between ice cream and gelato?

When going out for dessert, choosing between ice cream and gelato may seem redundant. Most people don’t even know the difference between both! Even though gelato technically means ice cream in Italian, there are key differences. With gelato there tends to be a softer, smoother texture whereas American style ice cream is a heavier, creamier consistency. The factors that create this difference between the two are a few simple things like sugar, fat, air, and serving temperature.

The difference between ice cream and gelato mainly has to do with the process of how it is made and the ingredients used. Ice cream is made with mainly water and freezing cold temperatures so it makes crystals and to keep these crystals as small as possible through different ingredients while also making a great flavor. The fat and sugar help create a barrier in between the water molecules as it freezes to make a syrup type substance that will never actually freeze. Then the air comes into play when it is being churned, the more air in it, the fluffier and less dense it becomes. Throughout this whole process of making the ice cream, gelato has less fat and has less air in it when it is being churned. Gelato also uses more milk than cream so it isn’t as fattening and it is churned at a much slower rate than American ice cream so not a lot of air gets into it. This gives gelato a very pleasant, dense and milky texture; gelato is also kept at a warmer temperature so it has more flavor than American ice cream, which is kept at very cold temperatures. This is why it is so important to eat gelato at the correct temperature because if it is served cold it will be way too hard and not as enjoyable.

The slight variations in how gelato and ice cream are made can make all the difference. They have two totally different tastes and textures, so if you are tired of the same old American ice cream a try be sure to give gelato a try because you certainly will not be disappointed. Here at La Bottega Farmingdale, we serve Gelato daily in order to satisfy your sweet tooth. Whether you enjoy a cup after a delicious panini, or you stop by just for our gelato, our quality and selection is perfect for you!

The History of Eggplant in Italian Cooking

       

Eggplant is a delicious ingredient that many Italian dishes are centered around or have variations of. Although the eggplant is such an integral part of Italian cooking many people don’t know the history of it or where it has originated from in Italian cuisine.

       The eggplant is grown as an edible fruit and it is related to both the tomato and potato. It is also available year round. When cooking eggplant, it will become tender as well as increase in flavor. In Italian cooking it is typically fried or baked, although the possibilities are endless. The Italian eggplant benefits from its ability to absorb almost all flavors with no problem at all as well as liquids that it is cooked with. This is why it is important that when adding butter or oil you should be careful to not over do it so that you avoid adding extra calories in addition to making the dish extra soggy. There are also many pairings that the eggplant can be used with such as tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, parmesan, mozzarella cheese, onions, garlic, herbs such as basil, arugula and oregano, grilled steak, veal, and lamb. Eggplant also has a very short shelf life and needs to be used within three to four days of harvesting it; eggplants should also not be refrigerated as this can damage it. Many of the famous dishes that revolve around eggplant are eggplant parmesan, caponata and melanzane sott’olio or pickled eggplant under oil.

       The eggplant is the cornerstone to a majority of Italian meals and is an ingredient that continues to be experimented with by chefs all over. The eggplant has inspired many great dishes and has become almost synonymous with Italian cooking throughout the years.

Here at La Bottega Farmingdale located on Long Island, we offer a wide variety of authentic Italian dishes that feature eggplant including three of our paninis. Our Potenza panini features fried eggplant, mozzarella, tomato, basil on krispina bread. Our Foggia features also fried eggplant, smoked mozzarella, black olive paste, sundried tomato on krispina bread. Our Sicilia panini features fried eggplant, mozzarella, roasted peppers on krispina. These dishes are just a few of our many panini options. Order online or come by today!

Our Gluten Free Food Options

Over the past few years, “Gluten Free” foods have become a way of life for many people. Gluten free foods have risen as the negative effects of gluten has become more clear. Although not all people react poorly to gluten rich foods, gluten intolerance and sensitivities are very common. If you live near Farmingdale, Long Island, La Bottega Farmingdale offers a wide variety of gluten free menu options for dining in, take-out , or delivery.

Gluten is a protein in certain grains such as wheat, rye, and barley. This protein causes negative reactions in the small intestine and results in symptoms varying from stomach pain to nutrient malabsorption. Gluten can make people’s stomach very sensitive. The protein gluten contains sticky, elastic properties.  When the gluten reaches the digestive tract, the immune system can mistake the gluten is a foreign object, like bacteria.

Some people can be diagnosed with an allergic reaction to gluten. This is called celiac disease.  Celiac disease is when a person is extremely sensitive to gluten. Celiac disease causes people’s digestive systems to attack the gluten. While the body is attacking the gluten the body also attacks enzymes called tissue transglutaminase, which is essential for the digestive system to contain. Celiac disease restricts people from eating any form of gluten in order to protect the digestive system and enzymes.  It is understood that gluten free foods are very difficult to find.

La Bottega Farmingdale, located on Long Island, New York  has a large variety of gluten free food options including paninis and salads. Our Calabria panini features Sopressata, brie cheese, and fresh tomatoes on foccacia. Our Tacchino e Avocado salad features roasted turkey, mixed greens, tomatoes, shredded mozzarella, avocado, sauteed mushrooms, & roasted hot peppers with balsamic dressing. These are just two of our delicious gluten-free menu options.

La Bottega makes delicious gluten free meals that are indistinguishable from similar dishes containing gluten. The next time you are in the Farmingdale area and  don’t feel like preparing a meal for yourself, try one of our 75 gluten menu options.

Making healthy choices during Summer BBQ Season

Summertime is all about barbeques with your friends and family, but the food available at these barbeques may not always be the healthiest. There are ways though, that you can eat healthy while still enjoying yourself and eating what you like.

One way to ensure you eat healthy is to make your own dish and bring it. This way, even if all of the foods there are not as healthy as you would have liked them to be, you can have at least one healthy meal to indulge in. Portions are another huge part of being able to stay healthy. You can still eat those macaroni and potato salads as long as you don’t over-do it. Make sure to pay attention to the amount of starchy foods you are eating and try to keep portions small.

Start out by eating vegetables. If you fill up on the healthy stuff first, you’ll have less room for the non-healthy foods later on. Getting up and doing some physical activity after your meal is helpful too. Although you don’t need to go and run a marathon, having a catch in the backyard or doing some other kind of backyard game will definitely have a positive impact on your body and the way your meal is digested.

Another way to make sure to stay healthy but still be able to eat the good stuff is by eating salads. If you are having trouble figuring out what you should put into your salad, La Bottega in Farmingdale has a number of different salads for you to choose from. Salads are a great thing because you can add ingredients to them while still being able to keep the meal healthy. Two ingredients that are not only healthy but tasty are fish and grilled chicken. Fish is one of the healthiest foods in the world. It’s loaded with protein and vitamin D and grilling is a low-fat cooking method for chicken. Grilled chicken is a great source of protein and carbohydrates. La Bottega has a large selection of salads that are both healthy and delicious and contain grilled chicken as well as different types of fish. Adding these healthy ingredients not only make your salad more enjoyable, but give you a healthy amount of protein and vitamins too.

How to craft the perfect summer salad

With the summer essentially here, there will be a ton of barbecues to attend as well as dishes to bring with you. One dish that is always put out first, is the salad. For many, the salad course gets lost in the shuffle, but truly paying attention to the details, will get you compliments from everyone at the party!

When creating a salad, the ingredients are always the most important: You want the salad to not only be nutritious but delicious. Deciding your overall theme for your salad whether it’s sweet, tangy, savory, or a combination will help you hone in on the best ingredients for your salad. Having a wide array of fresh fruits and vegetables on hand will leave you with many options. A good salad will be well balanced, with colors, texture and flavor. When making a salad the end product should always be to make it look as aesthetically pleasing as possible and as delicious as possible. Also while creating the perfect salad it is important to incorporate some type of lean meat, like chicken. This will give you that special taste as well as make it more of a filling dish to put it over the edge. To give you salad the best flavor you should marinate the meat you use as well as to make sure the dressing used for the salad compliments well with the consistency of the whole dish and doesn’t overpower it so that it just tastes like dressing the whole time. The last part of creating the perfect salad is the assembly of the salad so that all the ingredients are mixed in just right so that every bite shares the same complexity.

Salads like our Rucala Caprino e Pollo, combine grilled chicken, baby arugula, goat cheese, sundried tomatoes, toasted walnuts, with a balsamic dressing for a sweet and crunchy texture. One of our new salads called Insalata di Mango features baby kale, fresh mango, grilled chicken, quinoa, cherry tomatoes, almonds, shredded mozzarella, with a mango dressing provides a unique sweet and savory experience. Whatever salad  you decide to craft, creating unique flavors and textures using fresh and healthy ingredients is your key to success.

Crafting the perfect salad may seem daunting to some people but with the right ingredients and the right attitude there should be no problem. Salads are meant to be healthy and enjoyable and there is no reason why either of those should be compromised.

Hot soup isn't just for the winter: Scientific reasons why soup actually cools you down

Many people believe that soup should only be had during the winter months or maybe when you’re suffering from the cold or flu, but there are many scientific reasons to suggest otherwise. There is evidence out there that shows how soup can actually cool you down during the hot summer months.

One of the main reasons is that soup can help resupply your body with fluids that are lost throughout a hot summer day. The broth of the soup is the main contributing factor to this. Another thing to consider is that drinking something hot will in turn make you hot, and that will trigger the body’s natural cooling process of sweating which will inevitably make you cooler! 

The ingredients of the soup can also have a cooling effect if they are vegetables that are rich in water content. Although soup is not the most common thing to have when it is hot out or may not be something everyone craves, this scientific evidence proves otherwise. The lasting effects of having soup will definitely be felt later in the day when you have a better feeling of energy because of increased hydration. It should also be noted that eating or drinking something cooler than your actual body temperature like ice cream or beer will not have the same lasting effects of having something hot or spicy, like a soup. Having something cool will initially feel relieving but it will only last a short while and then you’ll feel then need to have more. Something like soup will last much more into the day and by that time you most likely won’t feel the need to cool off any further.

Here at La Bottega of Farmingdale, our soup menu has a wide variety of soup options that can help you cool this summer. Our lobster bisque is a great summer option that will not only cool you down but will taste amazing.Our zuppa di pollo ai vegetali is also another great and delicious option that features vegetables that will also aid in the cooling process.

Having soup on a hot summer day may seem like a preposterous idea but these facts suggest that it may be exactly what you need. Instead of grabbing an ice cream cone, go have a bowl of soup and see for yourself!

The Best Ingredients to add to your salad if you are Healthy Conscious

People hear the word salad and automatically think it’s healthy. But, that is not the case with every single salad. Some are made with too much cheese, fattening creamy dressings, and loaded up with croutons, these are not the ingredients to put into a salad when trying to eat healthy. Sometimes it might be hard to go out to eat at a restaurant and order a salad that is both flavorful and good for the body but La Bottega in Farmingdale has over 30 different salads to choose from, each containing at least one of the ingredients that are perfect for a health conscious person.

Some of the healthiest salad ingredients are dark leafy greens, carrots, tomatoes, beans, fish, avocados, vinaigrette, citrus fruits, mushrooms, and peppers. Each of these ingredients is unique in how they provide for the body.

Dark leafy greens, carrots, tomatoes, vinaigrette and citrus fruits are great for preventing a number of different cancers. The beans are a source of protein and can help to suppress tumor growth. Fish, salmon specifically, is rich in B6 and reduces the recurrence of colorectal adenomas, a type of cancer. Avocados are extremely healthy and provide the body with a number of different nutrients. Avocados contain lutein, alpha-carotene and beta-carotene which prevents eye disease and cancer, decrease asthma symptoms, and are good for the bones, skin and immune system. Mushrooms are also great for the immune system and peppers contain a lot of Vitamin A, which plays a role in bone growth, reproduction and immune system health and is important for healthy vision; and Vitamin C which protects against immune system deficiencies, cardiovascular disease, prenatal health problems, and eye disease.

Of all the salads available at La Bottega, more than half of them contain at least one of these healthy ingredients. If you’re in the mood for a salad with seafood, La Bottega has four different salads made with the customer’s choice of shrimp or salmon. The Salmone e Pere salad is made with salmon, spinach, endive, red pears, toasted pecans, roasted beets, cherry tomatoes, and a raspberry vinaigrette, not only does this salad have the healthy fish in it, but it has vinaigrette, spinach, and tomatoes also. Another salad we have that is made with fish, is the Gamberoni e Guacamole salad. It has grilled shrimp, lettuce, guacamole, toasted almonds, cherry tomatoes, roasted hot peppers, and lime dressing. That one salad alone has five of the healthiest salad ingredients available.

If seafood is not something you are interested in, there are also salads made with grilled chicken and salads that do not contain any kind of seafood or meat. The Insalata con Funghi for example, is made with mixed greens, portobello mushrooms, roasted peppers, toasted sunflower seeds, and mozzarella with balsamic dressing.

Eating healthy can easily be done when dining at La Bottega. Vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options are also available.

Mothers Day Catering

Give Mom a break and let us do the cooking for a change! La Bottega of Farmingdale, located in Farmingdale, New York on Long Island, has an extensive catering menu if your family just feels like staying in and having a party at home.

La Bottega of Farmingdale has been captivating the quaint town of Farmingdale with our world famous panini and salads. We are an Italian eatery open for both lunch and dinner, and for our catering services, are available during any of these times for your party.

La Bottega of Farmingdale prepares half-trays of our gourmet Italian food to serve 10-12 guests, with full trays ranging from 18-20. Mother’s Day, which is on Sunday, May 8th of this year, has become quite a tradition for many families, and if you have enough guests to feed, we are delighted to help you out and make this Mother’s Day party a success!

Our catering is prepared fresh, served hot, and available for pickup or delivery. Try our brand new 6 foot panino, which comes with a choice of mixed greens or arugula, fresh mozzarella or fontina, and tomato or sun-dried tomato, paired with grilled zucchini, grilled portobello, prosciutto, sopressata, parma ham, or speck. It is perfect for Italian lovers or for those looking to perhaps be a bit healthy at the party.

Why not try ol’ reliable from our standard menu? Eggplant rollatini or parmigiana is always an excellent Italian meal, or perhaps try our various chicken breast recipes, which include being suateed with white wine or topped with fresh tomato, mozzarella, or brocoli rabe. Our fish menu is also a great choice, and includes a variety of shrimp, talapia, or salmon cooked to however you like.

Whatever your choice, be sure to come down to La Bottega of Farmingdale in Nassau County on Long Island for a great dinner for Mom on her day!

How to Eat Light

What is the difference between eating light and eating heavy? Light eating is more than just a nutritional buzzword as it will allow you to eat foods in their most digestible order. Lighter foods, such as fruits, vegetables, and so on, will be digested before the heavier foods, such as carbs, proteins, and starches, and the lighter foods will not be trapped. There is a science to light eating that is easily adaptable for any person regardless of age, gender, or current weight.

Breakfast is the first meal of the day, and by far the most important. Besides providing us with energy throughout the entire day, breakfast foods are good sources of nutrients such as calcium, iron, fiber, and Vitamin B. The essential nutrients gained by eating a light and healthy breakfast will help you on the track to a healthier lifestyle. Eating a heavy breakfast, for example, can achieve quite the opposite. You may think that a heavy breakfast will keep you full for a longer period of time, but research has disproven this, and the calories you gain from a heavy breakfast will do more for your waistline than for your health. A great routine for the morning is a smoothie or shake as the fruits, vegetables, etc. can be easily digested in liquid form.

Lunch should be the first meal of the day that could be a little heavier, but still not heavy like dinner. Salad can be called the ideal light eating lunch as fruits and vegetables are easy on your digestive system and provide a large number of health benefits. Dinner, like lunch, can be a little heavier, but if you are trying to eat a light diet, keeping away from heavy carbohydrates will be your best bet. The light eating philosophy allows your body to detoxify naturally, digest better, and provide you with more energy. La Bottega of Farmingdale offers numerous menu items that can be classified as a light meal.

Spring Salads

Spring is starting once again, and it is a good time to look at some recipes for this bright, warm season. Spring salads are filled with leafy greens, such as lettuces and spinaches, and there is a lot of different things you can add to a spring salad to add flavor and zest.

La Bottega of Farmingdale offers a wide array of spring salads, with an example being a market salad with some poached chicken, and involves using endive, a leafy green vegetable, watermelon radishes, and a lemon citronette dressing. The salad represents spring in its colorful, fresh look, and it is very flavorful as well. Another spring salad recipe is for the Asparagus and Pea salad filled with peas and raw asparagus, made from a buttermilk dressing with chives, parsley and tarragon.

The cucumber and mint salad is another good spring salad to try, especially with a side of toasted pitas. The salad is filled with a light vinaigrette dressing, cucumber mint, and green beans. The toasted pitas are coated with a light olive oil as well as some garlic to make an interesting change up from the standard croutons with most salads.

You might want to try this next spring salad if you are a fan of shrimp. This salad uses marinated shrimp and adds lemon and fresh basil for a great, outdoor meal. Spring is also known for fruits as well as flowers and greenery, so why combine the two for a great taste? Spinach and strawberry salads can be topped with whatever dressing you would prefer, and they are good for you too! The lemon juice and peas is also a popular combination, which is another example of fruit pairing with a green vegetable.

One final salad to get you in the mood for spring is the butter lettuce radish and avocado salad. You can also throw on some mustard dressing for a flavorful salad. It is a light salad as well, only 152 calories.

Salads are good for you, but that doesn't mean they have to be plain and ordinary. Adding fruits and different seasonings can really add flavors you have never tried, so try to throw different fruits or vegetables in for a good taste. Spring has sprung, and so has fresh salad season!

Spring Fruits and Vegetables

Goodbye snow, goodbye ice, goodbye heavy winter clothes and hell-ooo beautiful weather! I think it is safe to say that we are all pretty excited for the spring season. Spring resembles life: flowers bloom, animals mate, and beautiful color fills our atmosphere. Another wonderful aspect of the spring season is the variety of food.

For those of you who can use a bit of a spring cleaner-upper, why not start cleaning up bad eating habits? Let’s face it: the majority of us probably failed at keeping our New Year's resolutions of being “fit and healthy.” So why not take advantage of this new opportunity to make things right? Speaking of fit and healthy, keep in mind that summer will soon be around the corner and substituting unhealthy sweets with spring filled fruits is an easy fix. Strawberries are first on the list. Strawberries are available all year round in some areas but they suffer less damage in transit and are more likely to be fresher in quality during the springtime. These wonderful berries are very nutritional as they provide 3.5 grams of fiber and attribute to your vitamin C dosage.

All of the following fruits do wonders to the body so them all together and have yourself a dream fruit salad:

• Apricots
• Avocados
• Blueberries
• Grapefruit
• Kiwi
• Pineapple

The hard part about eating healthier is that vegetables are not the first foods to be considered due to the daily diet of most Americans consisting of meats and fried foods. Asparagus is a good spring vegetable due to its great nutritional value as they are low in fat, high in fiber, and provide a good source of vitamin B and C as well as iron. Fresh peas are also a great spring vegetable because they too are low in fat, high in fiber, and provide a great source of plant protein.

The following vegetables are also great in the spring:

• Artichoke
• Arugula
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Carrots

There are a number of fruits and vegetables that we should really take advantage of this spring season and it can also be a great adventure picking them yourself at a farm. Choose your food wisely as a lot of the best tasting foods contain the least amounts of grease and oil.

March Madness Catering

March is finally here, so get your brackets ready! A sure sign of Spring for all basketball fans is the start of March Madness. The NCAA March Madness Tournament kicks off March 15th, and that’s enough of a reason to celebrate. Get the gang together for an epic March Madness party and you can place your bets on La Bottega of Farmingdale to provide you the perfect catering everyone will enjoy. All you have to do is pick up the phone, give us a call, and let the madness ensue!

The last thing you want to do at your own party is spend time in the kitchen preparing food, cleaning, cooking, and missing out on the game. We have catering packages that will suit the tastes of all your guests. When choosing food for an event, guests usually expect to be munching down on delicious foods they can eat with their hands that doesn’t make too much of a mess. We offer spiedini, which are like delicious mini-meals on a skewer. Basketball fans can enjoy chicken, steak, or ship spiedini skewers even when they are standing cheering on their team.

You can’t go wrong with our famous paninis as they are known to be party pleasers. We let you choose from 6 varieties of many panini options so that all your guests will be sure to fill up on something they’ll love. The paninis are cut in fours so guests will be able to try a little of everything. Our panini options include vegetarian, steak, chicken, cured meats, roasted turkey, pork, or shrimp, all prepared fresh and served hot!

At La Bottega of Farmingdale, we can work with you to help coordinate your March Madness party and make recommendations to ensure your party is a hit. You can check out our full catering menu to help you decide what works best for your event. Whoever you root for, win or lose, we are sure your guests will go home happy when you choose La Bottega of Farmingdale for your March Madness party.

Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables

No, don’t buy strawberries yet—it’s not strawberry season! My mom says this to me during the winter months, though I can’t help it . . . strawberries are my favorite fruit! What does she mean by “it’s not strawberry season”, anyway? It’s a fruit, they’re grown all year round! You would be surprised, however, at how significant of a role timing can play into the taste of your fruits and vegetables based on the season and your geographical location.

You may still be able to find your favorite fruit or vegetable even when it is not the proper season, although it may not be the flavor and taste in which we crave from them. When food is not in season in your local area, you may still find them in a local supermarket as they are often grown in a hothouse or shipped from different parts of the world. The downside is that the taste is not always as sweet or as ripe as you would like due to the long travel in their export or the artificial flavoring that is sometimes added in a hothouse as the crops are not able to grow in their natural setting outdoors.

Another thing to keep in mind when shopping for fruits and vegetables (and you may want to thank me later) is the cost and expenses that will affect your wallet. When it is not the typical season for, let’s use for example a watermelon, the prices shoot up as the availability for fruits such as these goes down.  

As peak season is important when shopping for fruits (as it affects both your money and your meals), you can always check and inquire at your local farmer’s market to uncover seasonal produce guides. It is important to keep an idea of what crops are in peak time and what are not, and both your wallet and taste buds will appreciate the extra effort!

Different Types of Sauces

Preparing a good meal typically means following a recipe, whether it’s from a cookbook or from memory. Sauces are an important step in cooking almost any meal. There are sauces for all different types of foods. The sauces main purpose is to enhance the dish it’s served with as it brings out more flavor. There are different bases for sauces, as some are wine based, stock, or cooked with thyme and pepper as well as butter. There are a few basic sauces many of us know and love:

• White sauces, usually served with pasta, contains milks and creams. There are white butter sauces, based in butter, vinegar, and shallots.
• Brown sauces are based on dark stocks like lamb and beef dishes.
• Vegetable sauces are from cooked or purèed vegetables.
• Vinaigrettes are usually served on salads, made up of oils, vinegars, and seasonings.
• Hollandaise is usually associated with eggs benedict, a common breakfast dish, and it is cooked with egg yolks and butter.
• Dessert sauces are typically made with fruits or chocolates and sugar. Their bases are usually from caramel, butterscotch, or nuts.

This list includes just some of the many sauces. You may hear chefs commonly refer to the Five Mother Sauces. One of them is the hollandaise sauce, but also included is bechamel, a white sauce made from milk and cream. Veloute is a white stock based sauce usually paired with a chicken dish but sometimes used with fish. Espagnole is a brown sauce traditionally with veal and beef. Of course, you cannot forget the common tomato sauce, made traditionally by reducing tomatoes over heat.

You must be able to pair the right sauces with the dishes. The most important element of any sauce is the ability to cling to the food and make the flavor pop. According to the Food52 Network, a roux, an emulsifier, and a reduction are the three techniques used to make any sauce thick and stable enough to smother whatever food it is poured on. A roux is just a fancy name for flour mixed with fat. When butter and flour are cooked with a liquid, the mixture thickens and becomes the reducer, becoming the base of the sauce.

There are so many great sauces out there. Some sauces have recipes you can follow along with or sauces you can make yourself by any spices you may want in your dish. Some sauces are rich and spicy and others are just tasty. If cooking is your hobby or you’re just beginning in the kitchen, knowing your sauces is a basic first step to making any meal.

The Different Types of Pasta

When you think of Italian food, pasta is usually the first thing to come to mind. Pasta has such a long history and is a staple today for Italian cuisine. It is estimated that Italians eat over 60 lbs of pasta per person, per year. Americans eat about 20 lbs per person. Pasta can be found in just about every restaurant these days, and whether you’re cooking a pasta dish or ordering one at a restaurant, you have to think about the specifics.

There are 7 common types of pasta that you can find almost anywhere:

1. Angel hair pasta is the thin and long kind of pasta that can easily be mistaken for spaghetti. Angel hair only needs about 6-7 minutes to cook. It is typically paired with light dishes with soupy or dairy-based sauces to top it off. The hollowness of the pasta makes it easy to absorb the sauces. Angel hair pasta and spaghetti probably aren’t the best choices to slurp down on a date.
2. Farfalle is more commonly known as the “bow-tie” pasta. It’s slightly pinched in the center with wide surfaces on the end. This pasta is usually eaten with richer sauces that are tomato based or creamy because it sticks to the surface better. Farfalle takes about 11 minutes to cook.
3. Fusilli is the spiral shaped, corkscrew looking pasta and is one of the most common ones you will see. The shape of the pasta is made by wrapping thin strips of pasta around long skewers and then cutting them into multiple pieces making the individual pasta. The shape makes the cook time a little longer than the others, around 14 minutes.
4. Penne, the cylinder shaped pasta, takes long to cook and is usually paired with heavier, chunkier sauces. Penne is a common household pasta along with ravioli and macaroni.
5. Ravioli is the square shaped sheets of dough and can be filled with a variation of cheeses, lobster, or meat. This pasta is so rich that it typically doesn’t use much sauce.
6. Macaroni is the “elbow” shaped one that kids typically love to eat in their mac and cheese.
7. Spaghetti is an American favorite and probably one of the most Americanized of the Italian pasta dishes. It is usually paired with oils and sauces that have a creamy substance. It is served soft at all times, making it easy to slurp.

Now that you’re informed on pasta, it’s best to know what pasta does for you. Many people cut  carbs out of their diets when they want to lose weight. However, pasta can be a healthy option when the basic ingredients are swapped with nutritive ones. Pasta can be healthy depending on how it is both made and served. It’s dependent on what you pair the pasta with and what ingredients you cook it with.

The better you know your pasta, the better you'll be able to prepare them for yourself and the more knowledgeable you'll be when you order a dish.