Prime Time Pasta

Surely this has been the age of pasta. In the last decade we have seen that simple, humble staple rise to an extraordinary level. Every corner store now sells pasta in myriad shapes and colors and most restaurants have at least one pasta-of-the-day on the menu.

Pasta first came to this country with the immigrants from southern Italy at the turn of the century. But pasta seemed relegated to spaghetti houses and casseroles until the fairly recent surge of interest in northern Italian cuisine. A pasta revival quickly swept the country, and with it came a renewed interest in southern Italian food—the real stuff this time.