Pasta

One little word. It rivals pizza for immediately bringing to mind the cuisine of Italy. But what is this substance? The word translates literally as paste. But, you ain't seen pasta until you come to Italy. Sure, the supermarkets in the US have a decent selection. Or you think so until you see the entire aisle of dried pasta in a big supermarket. It isn't an exageration to say that there are hundreds of different pastas. In the US you buy spaghetti. Maybe they have thick and thin spaghetti. Oh my, what to do? Fear not, or perhaps you SHOULD be afraid. Here you buy it by the number. Different numbers are different, standard sizes. Hmm, am I feeling like spaghetti 3 tonight, or maybe spaghetti 6? Don't get started on the 35-40 different brands available. Some of you might have noticed the little adjective I slipped in there. Dried. Pasta is also sold fresh in as many varieties as it is dried. All of the stuffed pasta is either fresh or frozen. OK, so you made it through the pasta aisle and are ready for a topping. There is a restaurant in Viterbo, appropriately called Spaghetteria, that boasts over 300 different pasta sauces. Remember, as the name implies, they only serve spaghetti. So, take 100+ pastas, multiply by 300+ sauces and you have ... well, you have a lot of choices.

Here at Chez Turner, we don't take our pasta quite as seriously, but we are developing (or, I should say Amy is developing) a decent repertoir of really delicioius pasta dishes. We have perfected bucatini al amatriciana, a type of hollow, spaghetti-like pasta with a red sauce of guanciale and onion. Then there is the gnocchi gorgonzola and nocciola. A potato pasta with a sauce of fresh, soft gorgonzola, cream and toasted hazelnuts. Ask Maggie and Greg if this lives up to their expectations. This evening it was a variation on pasta carbonara, shown below. We used penne pasta with a sauce of guanciale, egg and a mix of parmesan and romano cheese. Still lots of things to explore. Don't you want to visit? What are you waiting for?