Macaroni enjoy consistently high popularity, which has overtaken even cereals. Some consumers mistakenly believe that the well-known second is harmful to health. But if you choose the right version of the product or know how to cook the dough for them yourself, you can replenish the daily menu with a really healthy meal.
The classic variation of products provides for various figures such as shells, spikelets, wheels, letters. But spaghetti, noodles, vermicelli – the same thing just with a different name. The difference is only in the form. The technology of preparation, as well as the basic composition, is almost identical everywhere.
The usual recipe calls for only wheat flour and water. Moreover, in order to preserve the benefits, you need to take not only products of an organic sample, but also know exactly how to cook the workpiece. With prolonged heat treatment, nutrients evaporate quickly, turning an initially healthy dish into a useless or even harmful mass for the stomach.
origin theory
Several countries at once claim to be called the real progenitors of pasta. Because of this, historians have been trying to find a real primary source for more than a year, but things in this field are moving extremely slowly.
One of the most legendary stories about this is that of the little daughter of a tavern owner who prospered in the XNUMXth century. The baby played with the dough cut for noodles, creating fancy bows and rings.
The father liked the creativity of his daughter, and he decided to develop this idea by offering visitors an unusual format of noodles popular in that era. Ordinary people took the novelty very well, which glorified the enterprising catering owner. His name was Marco Aroni. In honor of the smart man, they named his signature dish, which is now often cooked in a slow cooker to save time.
According to another theory, thanks for the distribution of an unusual dish should be Marco Polo, who brought the recipe from the Middle Kingdom during the next expedition. Since then, literally the cult of pasta with cheese and other ingredients has settled in Italy. But to this day, there is no exact evidence that Marco Polo spoke about the goodies so beloved by many today to Italians.
For a while, talk about who should give the palm of discovery subsided until archaeologists got to the excavations of Etruscan tombs. At the burial site, experts discovered strange needles, which, upon closer examination, turned out to be tools for creating pasta. But since this is also just a guess of curious researchers, no one undertook to say for sure.
Identical disputes revolve around the origin of the term itself. According to some data, the word comes from the cradle of languages - Greek. Literally translated, makaria means “bestower of happiness.” According to other information, the Sicilians should be considered the authors of the term. They have an archaic verb which means dough handling and sounds very similar. But the most amazing thing is that if you just say the magic word “pasta” in any country, most people will understand what it is even with an eye to the accent.
After experts developed a technology that allows you to store a semi-finished product in a dry form, its popularity has increased significantly. Sailors felt special gratitude when they went on a long voyage. Now they could diversify their own meager diet, since the storage of semi-finished products did not require any special conditions. It was there that the idea of making naval pasta was born. The main ingredient was mixed with stew so that the food would not get bored so quickly. Modern hostesses have gone further, making more healthy variations with minced meat, adding spices to taste.
Initially, the inhabitants of Naples, who during the heyday of their territory were always considered noble fashionistas, ate such an exquisite dish exclusively at outstanding festivities. But the most surprising thing is that it was used as a dessert, which for those who are accustomed to eating a dish with chicken or pickles seems wild.
But the now popular pastas appeared only at the end of the XNUMXth century, and the explosion of popularity came in the next hundred years later. Moreover, initially all semi-finished products were created manually, no matter how much cooks had to pore over them. Now the production is completely entrusted to automated equipment.
The most important useful nuance when eating pasta is called the high fiber content. If you choose products from good flour, and also know how to cook it while maintaining energy value, then you can significantly help the digestive system.
Fiber functions as a natural “panicle”, which removes from the intestines accumulated over the years:
- toxins;
- waste products of pathogenic microorganisms.
The chemical composition indicates a high content of carbohydrates, the number of which has reached 70%. But this should not scare adherents of a healthy lifestyle. Good products are complex carbohydrates that are not capable of harming diabetics when eating in moderation.
Complex carbohydrates in combination with meat have practically no effect on the current level of glucose in the blood. They are digested rather slowly, which results in a long-term lack of hunger. Because of this, even a casserole based on them will not turn into a nightmare for those who follow the indicators of harmony.
Experts say that durum wheat has a beneficial effect on:
- increase in working capacity;
- mood improvement;
- the ability to quickly concentrate.
Therefore, it is better to choose variations from such flour. A simple gravy made according to some proprietary recipe will help add flavor.
Additional benefits of a healthy version of the dish are called:
- prevention of cardiovascular diseases;
- suppression of migraine;
- the fight against bad cholesterol, which likes to be deposited on the walls of blood vessels.
Even better, if you learn how to create a semi-finished product yourself, combining it with creamy sauce or other goodies.
high calorie content
You can get acquainted with the energy value of a particular offer from the manufacturer’s instructions on the package. But the average indicator usually varies around 350 kcal per hundred grams. The level will fluctuate depending on the type of flour, as well as additional ingredients. One of the least calorie options is the mushroom solution. Sometimes savvy hostesses even put them in vegetable soup to give it more satiety.
Supermarkets offer an abundance of various types of pasta, where the composition of the usual wheat billet is interspersed with lentils, oats and even barley. But there is one secret here. Even the most high-calorie dry shells can lose up to half of their value when cooked. By shedding excess calories, some believe that they have reduced the threat of not fitting into the daily norm. But due to the fact that someone prefers to eat the main dish with an egg or cheese filling, the calorie content again grows significantly.
The same cheese per 50 grams adds about 350 kcal. The same picture can be traced with fans of the Soviet classics of the genre – “in a naval way”. Here, calories add up depending on the fat content of the meat, but the average level usually quickly creeps up to almost 300 kcal.
Reference to variety
Nutritionists say that the main harm comes from the wrong wheat variety. If the raw material was ordinary flour, then this is a completely unhealthy dish, which is designed simply to satisfy hunger. An additional threat is a sharp jump in the glycemic index immediately after eating. This is important for diabetic patients.
To learn how to choose real healthy semi-finished products, you do not need to be a noble chef. It is enough just to remember that the tubules and ears of durum varieties have a pronounced yellow color without any white dots. To the touch, the workpiece will be completely smooth and durable. This is explained by the high content of proteins, which will not go anywhere, even if you cook them in a pan.
More scrupulous buyers are advised to look for packaging in the supermarket, where the following markings will be written:
- class “A”;
- “class 1”.
Both items guarantee delicious main courses that will not boil or stick together.
Against this background, it becomes clear that the harm from the right pasta is only in excessive overeating or combining with unhealthy components. So, large shells stuffed with synthetic seasonings can hit the stomach, provoking an exacerbation of gastritis.
You also need to be careful about the tandem with animal products:
- watery;
- goulash;
- cutlets.
But the combination with tomatoes with a minimum salt content is an excellent breakfast. Nutritionists insist that it is better to eat such food before noon, and you should completely refuse from night attacks to the refrigerator. Then it will be possible to avoid possible harm with an increased load on the organs of the digestive tract.
On guard of the figure
It was originally thought that slimming pasta was mutually exclusive. But new research has disproved the stereotype. If this is a semi-finished product without preservatives and from durum wheat varieties, then there are no problems in their periodic consumption.
Honest manufacturers specially cover their goods with a special protective film under high pressure. Passing through this mechanized press is called plasticizing. It is she who is responsible for blocking the gelatinization of starch during exposure to high temperatures in the oven or when boiling in a saucepan.
Such a precaution protects against a rapid increase in the glycemic index, and also blocks the leakage of nutrients. Therefore, it is so important to purchase products only from trusted manufacturers, whose reputation is confirmed.
If you add a healthy sauce to real pasta, you get the perfect solution. The best friends of the right sauce are called:
- vegetable oil;
- vegetables;
- mushrooms.
And the kings of energy value are rightfully considered seafood, rich in various trace elements necessary for the normal functioning of the body.
In conclusion, true fans of the dish are advised to look for an icon on the packages indicating the use of whole grains. It can be either a special drawing, or a seal of the English term “durum”. For Italian pasta, the equivalent words are semola and grano duru.