Seasoning Pastes in a Tube

Imported from Italy, Amore seasoning pastes are an easy way to let your imagination add some intrigue to your cooking. Each comes in a tube so it is easy to use.( Just put what you don't use in the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for a bit the next time you use it.) There's Tomato Paste--perfect for when you want a light glaze of tomato rather than a sauce; Herb Paste--versatile in pasta, vegetables, etc.; Anchovy Paste--try some in a Caesar salad to get an authentic taste;Garlic--in everything! (almost) Pesto--add it to pasta for instant gratification (comparatively speaking) Sun-Dried Tomato--sandwiches, pasta, etc and Hot Pepper--adds pizazz to pasta, tofu, you name it.

Available at many supermarkets. Enjoy!

http://www.amorebrand.com/

Piccolini Perfection from Barilla

These smaller pasta shapes from Barilla, the love of Italy, are palatable not just for smaller mouths—the taste is somehow more precise and the al dente is truly “to the tooth.” Everyone will appreciate the consistent good taste.

Piccolini® is a new line of miniature classic Italian pasta shapes that makes it easy to create a meal that the entire family will enjoy. With a quicker cooking time, Piccolini® keeps its al dente texture and is ideal for any pasta dish. Bite-size Piccolini® is perfect for everyone who really loves pasta.

Piccolini® comes in the following five miniature shapes for different sauces, texture variety, and just for fun-- Mini Farfalle, Mini Penne, Mini Wheels, Mini Fusilli and Mini Ziti. These mini-pastas can hold up to any recipe or sauce, and are a delight to prepare and eat. An excellent addition to Barilla’s pasta collection.

Pastas—plain, whole wheat, enhanced

Pasta has been a food staple for hundreds of years. There may be few variations on the theme of where exactly pasta originated but here is a brief look at its brief more recent history:

“By the 1300's dried pasta was very popular for its nutrition and long shelf life, making it ideal for long ship voyages. Pasta made it around the globe during the voyages of discovery a century later. By that time different shapes of pasta have appeared and new technology made pasta easier to make. With these innovations pasta truly became a part of Italian life. However the next big advancement in the history of pasta would not come until the 19th century when pasta met tomatoes. "
"Although tomatoes were brought back to Europe shortly after their discovery in the New World, it took a long time for the plant to be considered edible. In fact tomatoes are a member of the nightshade family and rumors of tomatoes being poisonous continued in parts of Europe and its colonies until the mid 19th century. Therefore it was not until 1839 that the first pasta recipe with tomatoes was documented. However shortly thereafter tomatoes took hold, especially in the south of Italy. The rest of course is delicious history.”
From http://www.lifeinitaly.com/food/pasta-history.asp

While Italy has more than 300 shapes of dried pasta, there are not quite so many from which to choose in the U.S. There are, however a few categories that await us in the pasta aisle. Regular, Whole Wheat, and a sort of hybrid pasta that seems to have the best of both of the first two.

To be continued.