October 25th is World Pasta Day! The day was first established in 1995 at the World Pasta Congress to highlight pasta as a global food. This year, the main event will take place in Milan, Italy, but we encourage you to celebrate with a delicious plate of pasta wherever you are. Pasta is an international favorite for good reason. It tastes great, stores well, and it's affordable and simple to cook. It is also a staple of the Mediterranean diet. 

Classic Italian pasta dishes like cacio e pepe (cheese and pepper) and spaghetti alla pesto Genovese have lovely light sauces and are typically served as first courses, whereas lasagna alla Norma (with eggplant) and tagliatelle Bolognese (meat sauce) can easily satisfy for an entire meal. Small pasta shapes are traditionally added to broth and bean soups to add more body. Pasta can even be added to egg frittatas for breakfast.

Pasta is not just an Italian staple. It was created as a way to preserve grains by combining dried and ground grains with water, forming the mixture into edible shapes, and drying them for storage. This simple yet profound method of storing heart-healthy grains is used to make noodles around the world. Pasta is traditionally made with durum wheat, an ancient Mediterranean strain of wheat that is ground into semolina flour. Durum semolina is also used to make trahana in Greece and couscous on the southern shores of the Mediterranean.

Some fad diets vilify pasta because it contains carbohydrates and use it as a scapegoat for weight gain. Carbohydrates, along with protein and fats, are an essential part of a balanced, healthy diet. However, not all carbohydrate foods are created equal. Pasta is a low-glycemic food, meaning our bodies digest it slowly for long-lasting energy. Unlike high-glycemic foods such as white bread, pasta does not cause an unsustainable spike in glucose levels. Pasta also provides vegetable proteins and B vitamins - even more when it's whole grain - and contains little sodium and no cholesterol. 

Did you know that if we mix durum wheat with water and extrude it through dies we get spaghetti, with a glycemic index of 42-45 when cooked, but if we take the same ingredients and bake them into leavened dough we get bread, with a glycemic index of 70-80 or more? (Low-glycemic foods have a glycemic index of 55 or less). Pasta is a wonderful illustration of human ingenuity.

If you need ideas for how pasta can be incorporated into a healthy diet, just look to its birthplace around the Mediterranean. It is served in smaller portions there compared to how it is served in other countries, particularly in the U.S., and it is a chance to eat more vegetables, olive oil, fish, legumes, and other healthy foods. In fact, researchers have found that people who eat more pasta tend to get more servings of vegetables in their diets. Minestrone, a soup made from vegetables, beans and pasta is an excellent example of a complete, healthy meal. Read the recipes below for more healthy ideas for your pasta plate.