Many people are under the impression that Italian cooking, in particular eating lots of Italian pasta will make you fat – this is not actually true. As the famous Italian, Sophie Loren, says in her book, it is not the pasta that makes you fat, it is what you pour over it. She was a prime example of how an Italian Food diet, based on Mediterranean food, is healthy. You do need to know which Italian foods you should eat, and probably most importantly how to prepare the food.

Sophia Loren, who was brought up on spaghetti, said in her book that it’s not the pasta that makes you fat, it’s what you put on top of it. The creamy sauces like Alfredo sauce, if eaten in very large quantities, are of course likely to cause weight gain. The Mediterranean way of preparing food does not rely on the creamy, rich sauces, but use olive oil in place of butter which makes the sauces much more healthy.

Some basic ingredients you need to keep to enable you to prepare healthy Italian food are will include a good quality Italian pasta, olive oil, onions, garlic, fish, lean meat and seafood. You will also want herbs like parsley, oregano and basil. Don’t make the mistake of using masses of cheese, just a little parmesan as a topping to your favorite Italian dishes.

There are quite a few light Italian food recipes that you can make with very simple ingredients, here is an example of one that is really easy to make;

Pasta with Tomato Sauce – use any type of pasta that you like. Boil the pasta in water that has been seasoned with salt. Don’t overcook the pasta – it must be tender and firm.

To make the sauce just chop up some garlic, an onion and some fresh tomatoes. Put 1 tablespoon of olive oil into a pan, saute the onions and garlic till they are soft. Next just add the tomatoes and then cook it all until well mixed together. Then add your favorite herbs – it’s worth experimenting with these, but you could use parsley, oregano or basil. Last you just need to pour the sauce over your hot pasta. If you like cheese you could sprinkle over a little parmesan cheese.

The above Italian cooking dish is nice and light. You will not need to eat anything else, such as bread, with it – it’s enough on its own. To vary the recipe you could add in different herbs, or use a different type of pasta.

Want to find out more about Classic Italian Cooking, then visit Author Name’s site on how to choose the best Italian pasta for your needs.

Tags : Cooking, italian cooking, italian dishes, italian food, italian pasta, pasta
Categories : Cooking, Ethnic