Posted on 07/06/2016 2:50:46 AM PDT by Olog-hai
Interesting. Just last week my doctor told me to lose weight I must stop eating pasta altogether, along with bread, potatoes and rice. The ‘carbs don’t make you fat” era of nutritional advice has come to an end.
Give me that pasta e fagioli. Or as some New Yorkers call it, pasta fazoo.
The problem is that many of these diets are low-fat. You need lots of fat to tell your body that it's "full", and doesn't need any more now, thank you very much.
I'm drinking coffee with heavy cream just now. Won't be even vaguely hungry for a couple of hours.
Point 1: You're right. My mom, born in Italy, still makes homemade pasta. Flour, water, and EGGS. Very filling and satisfying....you just can't eat huge bowls of it like you do with storebought. But of course storebought pasta has very little protein in it because protein is more expensive to incorporate into a manufacturing process than simply adding carbs.
Point 2: As others have pointed out, Italian portions are much smaller than American ones.
Point 3: Pasta/pizza sauce in this country is made with *sugar*. Blech. Now sauces are very regional and family-specific so I can't say this applies to all Italian sauces, but my mom would NEVER EVER put sugar into a tomato sauce.
Point 4: Sugar intake in general is lower among Italians. We drank water at dinner, not soda. Our "dolci", sweets, are less sugary than the average American dessert.
People are trying to reduce this to pasta = good/no good instead of looking at the entire cultural context.
Yeah, for the average American, eating large portions of zero-protein carb-loaded pasta with sugary sauce, and washing it down with soda and ultrasweet cookies, yeah, you are definitely going to have trouble with that carb intake that the average Italian might well not have.
But I believe the premise. I was unhealthily thin the whole time I was single, eating an Italian diet that included lots of pasta. I could hide behind a freaking pencil. Now that I've gotten away from that diet into a more "American one" with crappy bread, sugary drinks, carb-loaded snacks.....totally different story.
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Yes. But remember, pasta does not have to be processed, and wasn't for centuries. Once you find the right flour, add water and eggs, cut it how you like, let it air dry and wham. It cooks super fast (you can also freeze it), and it's filling and delicious compared to storebought.
Aside, I now have a simple rule. When you cook, your ingredients should not have ingredients, i.e. not processed. If you stick to that, you can pretty much eat what you want.
I'm coming to this conclusion as well. Including grains. :)
bump
Alright I just bought one of these gadgets. I’m doing low carb and miss having rice and pasta as a foundation to pile other stuff on top of.
Is there a particular kind of squash that’s recommended and can you really get close to the texture and flavor of real pasta?
Fresh zucchini about 1/2” diameter, use the large noodle end spiralizer. One medium zucchini equals about a serving. Microwave four serving size about five minutes. Problem sometimes with excess liquid but not like spaghetti squash.
Just discovered a world of recipes for “zoodles”. Tastes good enough that I’m done with pasta. Bolognese sauce goes good, or stir up chow mein & serve over zoodles. Used to like rice a lot, too.
Bon appetit!
Okay, so zucchini’s the key. When you say 1/2” diameter, do you mean you cut the zucchini into lengthwise sticks about 1/2” dia. to feed into the device?
Nooooo! Trim the stem end off the zucchini, then twist it into the Veghetti, turning as you go. Noodles will emerge through the cutter slots. Stick a fork into the end & rotate it to get as much noodles as possible. You’ll be left with a cone-shaped piece when you’re done.
Now....if you cut zucchini into quarter slices, dust with Parmesan & then bake, that makes for a great white substitute. We make that more often than veghetti. Enjoy!
Where are you finding 1/2” diameter zucchinis? I’m no zucchini expert but a typical medium zucchini is more like 1 to 2 inches in diameter isn’t it...like sort of cucumber sized? Or do you specifically seek out unusually slender ones because they make for better zoodles?
You’re right, about cucumber size fits the Veghetti. Quartered lengthwise, zucchini bakes up well.
Okay, got it. Thanks for all the infos. I’m really looking forward to trying this thing out.
You’re awake at 3:00 a.m. just like me. There’s a h*** of a line of thunderstorms rolling through. Lights have winked off twice. Can’t sleep. Might as well FReep for a while.
;^)
The comparison to pizza in Napoli is also quite telling. Very thin crust, a pizza that fits inside the average dinner plate, with one or two crushed Roma tomatoes, oil and garlic on top, and three or four bottle-cap sized chunks of real unsalted mozzarella and a basil leaf. And the taste is to die for, especially if cooked in a wood-fired brick oven. There will be little charred burny spots on the bottom. You can buy a 5" square from street vendors to eat for breakfast or lunch. Saporito!
Italians (in Italy) use unbromated flour. Just ground wheat, no chemicals.
LOL -- agita! It's stressful having to remember how many and what type of catastrophes and illnesses every member of the extended family (natural and adopted) are coping (badly) with! Not even to mention who froze her pizzelli a month before Christmas -- you could taste the difference! It was a sin! It almost ruined the whole festa!
They're the stars of the Cooking Channel show Pizza Masters. They cross the country in their classic Cadillac, checking out pizza joints along the way.
I love the show, if only because listening to their heavy NYC accents makes me nostalgic. :-)
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