Pasta is an Italian food made from a dough using flour, water and/or eggs. The dough is shaped and can be stored. Pasta is boiled prior to consumption. 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 word comes from Italian pasta which shares its origins with "paste", meaning "dough", "pasta", or "pastry" as in "small cake".

Learn how to make pasta like an Italian grandmother

How To Make Pasta

As someone who has a slight allergy to wheat products, I prefer to prepare meals that don't require flour as their main ingredient. Most of the time, my allergy rules out making pasta, pizza, burritos, or anything dusted in wheat-based flours. But over the years I have found that many Asian dishes are actually my best option.

Believe it or not, the first manufactured paper shredder design was inspired by a hand-crank pasta maker. Even though shredders have come a long way, they can still be used to perform the same function as their pasta-making cousin.

During the hot summer months, we're always on the lookout for healthy and easy-to-make pasta salad dishes. Over the past week it's been so hot that even the mere thought of turning on the oven to cook something makes me break out into a sweat.