Description
If you want to learn more about the history of spaghetti, take a look at this site (in Italian).
The name comes from "spago", Italian for string, which describes the shape perfectly: a long, thin thread of pasta. Long dried pasta was already being made in Sicily in the 12th century, as the Arab geographer al-Idrisi wrote about Trabia, near Palermo; then Naples made it a symbol, with its pasta factories and street "macaroni eaters".
Spaghetti is the most versatile shape there is: with fresh tomato sauce, with an herb or vegetable pesto, with garlic, oil and chili. I often use wholemeal or ancient grain spaghetti, which have more flavour and hold their texture well. A tip: always keep a ladle of the starchy cooking water to toss the pasta with the sauce and make it creamy without adding fat.
The name comes from "spago", Italian for string, which describes the shape perfectly: a long, thin thread of pasta. Long dried pasta was already being made in Sicily in the 12th century, as the Arab geographer al-Idrisi wrote about Trabia, near Palermo; then Naples made it a symbol, with its pasta factories and street "macaroni eaters".
Spaghetti is the most versatile shape there is: with fresh tomato sauce, with an herb or vegetable pesto, with garlic, oil and chili. I often use wholemeal or ancient grain spaghetti, which have more flavour and hold their texture well. A tip: always keep a ladle of the starchy cooking water to toss the pasta with the sauce and make it creamy without adding fat.
