Sugar-Free Recipes: Brie and Mushroom Phyllo Puffs | Submitted By: AshleyG

Warm melted brie and sauteed mushrooms are wrapped in a phyllo triangle. Great for parties! These are time consuming to make, but extremely elegant.

Pasta is a type of food made from flour mixed with water a (and often eggs) which is then kneaded, formed into shapes and boiled. The best-known form of pasta is probably spaghetti which is a long-thin form of pasta whose name derives from the Italian spaghetto, the diminutive of spago which means "thin string."

Other than spaghetti, other common forms of pasta include vermicelli (also string like), farfalle and rotelle (complicated decorative shapes), fettuccine and linguine (both ribbon-shipped), lasagna (large sheets), penne (short tubes), as well as various forms of hollow shapes that are stuffed with fillings (manicotti, ravioli and tortellini). Although all the types of pasta are made from more or less the same ingredients, the shapes do in fact serve an important role - different shapes make different types of pasta more suitable for different types of sauce.

When pasta is cooked, it can be served with a variety of different sauces. For example, in Italian cuisine, each region of Italy has their own preferred ways of serving the dish. For example, bolognese and pesto are favored in the North, whereas carbonara or tomato sauces tend to be favored in the South. Pasta is also a popular dish outside of Italy, and other countries such as the United States, have developed their own distinct accompaniments, albeit often inspired by Italian cuisine.

The origins of pasta have been lost in the mists of time. It is known that noodles have been eaten in China for at least 4,000 years, and one legend says that Marco Polo brought this dish to Italy - however romantic as this story is, it doesn't appear to be true - there are records of pasta dishes in the Mediterranean area dating back from before the time of Christ.

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