Pasta is a delicious and sustainable food as its got a low environmental impact. On World Kindness Day, we want to remind you why pasta is kind towards the planet, exploring its sustainability and sharing a waste-free recipe.
All the kindness on one (pasta) plate.
According to a DOXA-Italian Food Union study, as early as 2020, 1 in 3 Italians (32%) started experimenting with new pasta cooking methods to enhance taste, savings, and environmental sustainability. To prepare a straightforward or even gourmet pasta dish and achieve a perfect al dente texture, we can employ unconventional cooking methods that support environmental sustainability and enable us to conserve 80-100 liters of water annually. Isn’t this a gesture of kindness towards our planet?
For instance, utilizing a pressure cooker, which cuts the cooking time in half, or employing the passive cooking technique, where the flame beneath the pot (with the lid on) is ignited for just the initial 2-4 minutes, resulting in gas and electricity savings
Pasta and sustainability.
Pasta’s environmental effect has dropped in recent years, both during manufacturing and during consumption phases. How has the sustainability of pasta increased? For instance, since 2008, there has been a 20% reduction in water usage, a 95% recovery rate of garbage, and a 21% reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Through the use of production practices that have a minimal impact on the environment and outstanding quality performance, agricultural firms are able to leverage the pasta supply chain to support kindness towards the world. The production of wheat accounts for only 37% of global carbon dioxide emissions. Similarly, packaging (6% of CO2) is made of readily recyclable materials like cardboard or conventional plastic film. Pasta’s sustainability, long live!
The waste-reduction recipe.
Since we care about sustainability, let’s cultivate kindness with a waste-reduction pasta recipe to satisfy heart and conscience. Sometimes there’s leftover pasta for lunch or dinner; here’s how we can reuse pre-seasoned tagliatelle with just a few ingredients and simple steps.
Baked Tagliatelle
Ingredients
- 350 grams of pre-cooked and seasoned tagliatelle
- 120 grams of Scamorza cheese
- Extra virgin olive oil to taste
- Chopped basil to taste
Instructions
First, cut the Scamorza cheese into cubes. Sprinkle the bottom of the baking dish with the sauce used to season the pasta, then add a drizzle of olive oil.
Create a first layer of pre-cooked and seasoned tagliatelle in the baking dish (about half of the available amount), add the cubed Scamorza cheese and more sauce if there’s any left. Then cover with the remaining tagliatelle.
Finally, add the remaining cubed Scamorza cheese, drizzle with olive oil, and bake for 10 minutes at 180°C (356°F). After this time, remove from the oven and sprinkle the gratinated tagliatelle with chopped basil. Enjoy the kindness pasta recipe!
