What’s the secret to an endless love story? Let’s find it out by continuing our journey through the authentic Italian flavors. Our new destination is called one of the most worldwide popular Italian words: pasta.

That special, renowned food is made up of simple and genuine ingredients that Italians were able to turn into something extraordinary. Since that moment, dating back to the Roman era, they fell in love with their unique creation of pure water and wheat flour, and they’ve continued celebrating that love by inventing new types of pasta that varied in shape, appearance, taste, types of flours and dough ingredients, that could include eggs. Think about macaroni, spaghetti, lasagna: an incredible range of masterpieces, which shouldn’t be missing in any gourmand’s life.

In Italy, pasta is a matter of art, creativity and identity. That wheat treasure is daily consumed in every region, city or village and it represents the Italian meal par excellence. Long pasta, such as spaghetti, Roman tonnarelli and bucatini, Tuscan pici, egg-made fettuccine and chitarrine from Abruzzo (traditionally produced with the tool named chitarra, literally “guitar”) are typical of Central and Southern regions. In those areas, the tradition of pasta is linked to short formats as well: macaroni, rigatoni, cavatelli and paccheri from Naples, as well as orecchiette, meaning “little ears”, from the Apulia region.

In the Central-Northern region of Emilia-Romagna, Italians invented the famous tagliatelle (“cut” egg-made pasta ribbons) and tortellini, one of the most popular stuffed pasta, usually made with meat and salumi, but also with cheese or vegetables. Stuffed pasta is typical of all the Italian northern regions, birthplace of agnolotti and ravioli. In those lands, long egg-made pasta is also typical, such as tagliolini from the region of Piedmont.

Click here to discover more on how to recognize the authentic masterpieces of the “Italian White Art”.

Incredibly versatile, pasta can be enjoyed with countless condiments in varied and surprising combinations, such as the traditional sugo (tomato sauce), ragù (meat-based sauce) and pesto (typical sauce of Genoa, in the northern region of Liguria, made with basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic,  Parmigiano Reggiano PDO, Pecorino Sardo PDO and blended with olive oil).

Each pasta recipe is a real treasure: a tasteful charge of energy, a sensorial adventure through diverse flavors, infinite as the love story between Italians and their most beloved creation.