Noodles
Noodles are an often underrated food here in the UK - we associate them with the infamous Pot Noodle which tends to be deemed as a cheap student food as it's quick and easy to prepare and quite filling.
Noodles tend to be quite quick to cook whether you are boiling them, steaming them, deep fat frying them or having them in a stir fry.
Pasta
Durum wheat is used to make Pasta.
There are 4 main types of Pasta; dried durum wheat, fresh egg, semolina and wholewheat.
Dried, Fresh and Stuffed Pasta
Most of the Pasta eaten in Italy is dried Pasta. Fresh Pasta has a short shelf life due to eggs being in the ingredients.
Examples of Stuffed Pasta: Agnolini, Cannelloni, Cappelletti, Ravioli, Raviolini, Tortellini and Tortelloni.
Cooking and Preparation
For dried pasta 80-100g per person is the optimal serving size with just under 1l of boiling water per 100g to cook it in along with 1/4 tbsp of salt per litre. A rolling boil must occur before adding the pasta.
Over cooking pasta is a common issue and it's something that I am 100% guilty of. Al dente is how it should be cooked so there is a little bite to it.
Fresh pasta cooks a lot quicker than dried pasta so take this in to account when cooking it.
Not all pasta is cooked this way, some are baked, grilled or fried.
Getting Saucy!
Examples of sauces that are great with pasta are: tomato sauce, cream, butter or béchamel-based sauces, rich meat sauce (i.e. bolognaise), olive oil and garlic, soft white or blue cheese and pesto.
Getting Cheesy!
Examples of cheeses that go well with pasta dishes include: Parmesan, Pecorino, Ricotta and Mozzarella.