Pasta is an Italian food made from a dough using flour, water and/or eggs. The dough is shaped and can be stored. Pasta is boiled prior to consumption. There are many variations of shapes and ingredients that are all called pasta. A few examples include spaghetti (solid cylinders), macaroni (tubes or hollow cylinders), fusilli (swirls), and lasagna (sheets). Pasta can also denote dishes in which pasta products are the primary ingredient, served with sauce or seasonings. The word comes from Italian pasta which shares its origins with "paste", meaning "dough", "pasta", or "pastry" as in "small cake".

Pasta Shells Florentine is pasta made with jumbo pasta shells, spinach, low fat mozzarella cheese, low-fat cottage cheese, egg, grated parmesan cheese, ground nutmeg, italian seasoning, and a jar of spaghetti sauce.

There are as many versions of lasagna as there are cooks. Filling ingredients vary; but there are two main sauces used, a red and a white. You can alternate them between the layers of pasta and filling. Start with red on the very bottom and ending with white on the top; but do it the way you like it best. That's the Italian grandmother's way!

This Atlanta area Italian restaurant allows you to create your own dishes by picking from a selection of hand-made pastas and sauces. With over 15 different pastas to choose from, 11 different sauces and daily specials there are enough dishes to satisfy the pickiest patron.

Here's my recipe for a delicious Italian tomato sauce, passed on to me by my friend Mark. It's a simple, basic recipe that goes with any sort of pasta. I've altered it a bit to my own tastes and you can, as well.

Italian recipes for soups, sauces, pasta and tons more