National Pasta Day

National Pasta Day

Yesterday a Facebook friend, Patty,  announced that today the 4^th of Jan was National Pasta Day.

I had never heard that there was a National Pasta Day so being the die-hard,  researcher that I am I had to find out more about it.

I did find that there is a real National Pasta Day in fact two! Go figure right,

But then again we all do love pasta!

When I originally read Patty’s post I just thought she was kidding and she had decided it was a good excuse to pig out on that delicious starchy stuff which of course I am not opposed to either.

Here is what I found out.

The official National Pasta Day is October 17^thand Feb 4^th

Dry  pasta (pasta secca) or fresh (pasta fresco) its up to you what kind of pasta you use.

Did you know that there are over 350 varieties of dried pasta in Italy alone? I didn’t either until I did this research.  It makes sense when you know that the average Italian consume over sixty pounds of pasta a year compared to America where only twenty pounds of pasta is consumed yearly. Back in 2000 research was done and established that in that year over 1.3 million pounds of boxed or dried pasta were sold in the US,  and if you lined up all the boxes of pasta sold it would circle the world nine times!

This is something I leaned this when I was eight years old but its great information if you want to buy the best pasta.

The best pasta is made with pure durum semolina flour and water and if you are going to take the time to make your favorite pasta why not buy the best ingredients?

I have made pasta many, many times in my life. In fact it was the first thing I ever learned to make and later cook! I can still see the look on my mom’s face when she came home from work and found strips of pasta hanging all over the house. She was fine with it once she knew it was homemade pasta!

No matter if you enjoy. Farfalie, conchigle, rotini, penna. Tortellini or any other shape of pasta.

I am definitely a pasta lover and will of course celebrate this special day with angel hair pasta and a traditional spaghetti sauce and meatballs.

If you need an excuse to eat pasta you have it since this is one of the official days to celebrate pasta. So go ahead and get out the pans and make your favorite kind and make your favorite sauce and celebrate!

If you would like to try your hand at making pasta here is the recipe:

Homemade Pasta

Courtesy of TLC Cooking

1.  Combine 2 cups all-purpose flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt on pastry board, culling board, or countertop; make well in center. Whisk 3 eggs, 1 tablespoon milk, and1 teaspoon olive oil in small bowl until well blended; gradually pour into well in flour mixture while mixing with fork or fingertips to form ball of dough.

Gradually add the mixture to the  flour to make a ball of dough.

2. Place dough on lightly floured surface; flatten slightly. To knead dough, fold dough in half toward you and press dough away from you with heels of hands. Give dough a quarter turn and continue folding, pushing, and turning. Continue kneading 5 minutes or until smooth and elastic, adding more flour to prevent sticking if necessary. Wrap dough in plastic wrap; let stand 15 minutes.

Knead the dough until it becomes smooth and elastic.

3. Unwrap dough and knead briefly (as described in step 2) on lightly floured surface. Using lightly floured rolling pin, roll out dough to 1/8-inch-thick circle on lightly floured surface. Gently pick up dough circle with both hands. Hold it up to the light to check for places where dough is too thick. Return to board; even out any thick spots. Let rest until dough is slightly dry but can be handled without breaking.

4. Lightly flour dough circle; roll loosely on rolling pin.

Loosely roll the dough on a rolling pin.

5. Slide rolling pin out; press dough roll gently with hand and cut into strips of desired width with sharp knife. Carefully unfold strips.

Cut the dough into strips of desired width.

6. Pasta can be dried and stored at this point. Hang strips over pasta rack or clean broom handle covered with plastic wrap and propped between two chairs. Dry at least 3 hours; store in airtight container at room temperature up to 4 days. To serve, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water 3 to 4 minutes just until al dente. Drain well.

Dry the pasta using a drying rack.