Abstract:
The invention is directed to a pasta composition having a lattice structure with tapered portions. The pasta composition can be of any shape and flavor suitable for human consumption. The pasta composition cooks uniformly and reheats uniformly regardless of the conventional cooking technique used.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention is directed to a uniform cooking pasta. More particularly, the invention is directed to a pasta composition that cooks uniformly and homogeneously reheats. The pasta composition of the present invention may be used in meals that are prepared, for example, by boiling, steaming or baking, as well as in meals that are prepared in a microwave oven.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Pasta or macaroni dishes (including side dishes and meals) are enjoyed by many consumers; and particularly, because such dishes can be made to taste great in the absence of a high fat content. Unfortunately, it is not always easy to prepare pasta dishes that are evenly or uniformly cooked. Often, pasta, whether steamed in a steamer, baked in an oven, boiled in water or heated in a microwave, is not prepared to perfection because portions of the pasta, after cooking, can be soggy or mushy (i.e., overcooked) while other portions of the pasta can be hard (i.e., undercooked), or prepared to have the perfect texture (i.e., al dente).  
           [0003]    The inconsistent characteristics of cooked pasta are typically the result of thick portions of dry pasta dough at interfaces or intersections that make up or form part of the pasta. These thick portions, which prevent uniform heating of the pasta, are not limited to pasta of any particular shape. In fact, pasta having difficult to cook thick portions can be in the form of ziti, shells, elbows, rotini, and the like. Such thick portions may also be found in pasta having conventional lattices, like basic wheel shaped pasta.  
           [0004]    It is of increasing interest to develop a pasta composition that cooks uniformly and homogeneously reheats. This invention, therefore, is directed to a uniformly cooking pasta composition that comprises a lattice portion wherein the lattice portion has at least one leg comprising a tapered portion that joins at an intersection within the pasta composition. The pasta composition of this invention can be in the form of many shapes, and unexpectedly, cooks uniformly and homogeneously reheats, regardless of the cooking technique employed.  
         Additional Information  
         [0005]    Efforts have been made for preparing pasta. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,428,835, shelf-stable filled pasta is described.  
           [0006]    Other efforts have been made for making pasta. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,322,840, a tri-dimensional pasta product is described.  
           [0007]    Even other efforts have been made for making pasta. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,258,392, a microwavable pasta pie and pan assembly is described.  
           [0008]    None of the additional information above describes a pasta composition that comprises a lattice portion wherein the lattice portion has at least one leg comprising a tapered portion that joins at an intersection within the pasta composition.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0009]    In a first aspect, the present invention is directed to a pasta composition comprising:  
           [0010]    (a) a lattice wherein the lattice has at least one leg comprising a tapered portion; and  
           [0011]    (b) an intersection joined by the tapered portion of the leg.  
           [0012]    In a second aspect, the present invention is directed to a dish prepared with the pasta composition of the first aspect of this invention.  
           [0013]    Lattice, as used herein, is defined to mean having at least one woven leg.  
           [0014]    Tapered, as used herein, includes going from a thick region to a thinner region, gradually or non-gradually, and going from a thick region to a fillet-type region.  
           [0015]    Larger is defined to mean having more pasta composition by weight, for example, being heavier and thicker.  
           [0016]    Intersection means a portion of pasta contacting another portion of pasta within the pasta composition at a point of contacting such that the point of contacting comprises at least one tapered portion of a leg. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0017]    The subject matter which is regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. The invention, however, may be best understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures in which:  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 1 shows a lattice with a leg having a tapered portion; and  
         [0019]    [0019]FIGS. 2 a  and  2   b  show pasta compositions having the lattice structure of this invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0020]    There is no limitation with respect to the type of pasta dough that may be used to make the pasta composition of the present invention, as long as the pasta dough is suitable to be extruded from a commercial or domestic pasta making machine. Such pasta dough, therefore, can be used to make a pasta composition which is, for example, an allspice, amaranth, ancient grain, anise, apple cinnamon, apricot, artichoke, asparagus, barley, basic semolina, basil, beet, broccoli, buckwheat, buttermilk, cajun, carrot, cilantro, cinnamon, coconut, corn, corn meal, curry, dill, fennel, garbanzo, garlic, ginger, jalapeno, lemon, lime, mint, mustard, nutmeg, orange, parsley, pepper, pineapple, poppy, potato, pumpkin, red pepper, rice, rosemary, rye, sesame, soy, spinach, tomato, yogurt or zucchini pasta, as well as mixtures thereof and the like.  
         [0021]    The pasta dough of the present invention may or may not comprise water, milk, egg, and/or oil. Often, the dough used to make pasta composition of the present invention is at least about 65.0%, and preferably, at least about 66.5%, and most preferably, at least about 67.5% by weight of flour (e.g., extra fancy semolina flour), but not 100% by weight dry ingredients, with all weight percents being based on total weight of the pasta dough.  
         [0022]    When making the pasta composition of the present invention, the ingredients (e.g., flour, water and egg) are mixed to produce a homogeneous dough mixture and then extruded through a commercially available pasta making machine, with the exception that for this invention the dies of the pasta making machine are modified (to produce a leg or legs with a tapered portion) to yield a pasta composition with a lattice as described herein. Subsequent to being extruded, the pasta composition of this invention may be immediately cooked and consumed, or dried (e.g., in an oven or dryer at a temperature of at least about 75° C., but preferably, between about 80° C. to about 83° C.) and cooked and consumed at a later time.  
         [0023]    It is also within the scope of this invention to add to the pasta dough used to make the pasta composition of this invention optional additives like salt, preservatives, cooking enhancers (e.g., glycerol monostearate), food grade colorants, spices, mixtures thereof, and the like. When such optional additives are desired, collectively, they typically make up less than about 5.0% by weight of the total weight of the pasta composition.  
         [0024]    Turning to the figures, FIG. 1 shows a pasta lattice portion  10  having at least one leg  12  comprising a tapered portion  14  that intersects another portion of pasta and in this illustration legs  12   a  and  12   b,  both of which comprise tapered portions  14   a  and  14   b,  respectively that form an intersection  16  joined by tapered portions  14 ,  14   a  and  14   b  of legs  12 ,  12   a,  and  12   b,  respectively. It is particularly noted that the middle portion cross-sectional volume of each leg  12   m  is at least about 2.0% to about 25.0%, and preferably, at least about 3.0% to about 20.0%, and most preferably, at least about 8.0% to about 12% larger than the middle portion cross-sectional volume of the tapered portion of each leg  14   m,  and including all ranges subsumed therein. It is further noted that with respect to each leg  12  comprising a tapered portion  14 , the length of the tapered portion  14  is typically from about 2.5% to about 55% the total length of leg  12 . Therefore,  14 L is about 0.025 to about 0.55 times the length of  12 L.  
         [0025]    The lattice portion  10  shown in FIG. 1 may be employed in pasta compositions having any shape or form, as long as the same may be consumed by humans. Thus, the pasta compositions of the present invention may be in the form of, for example, animals, letters, numbers, cars, holiday ornaments, instruments, sport items, sport figures, cartoon characters, famous dwellings and famous people. Usually, the legs of the pasta composition of the present invention are from about 0.4 cm to about 5.0 cm, including all ranges subsumed therein.  
         [0026]    Turning to FIGS. 2 a  and  2   b,  FIG. 2 a  shows a soccer ball  18  comprising the lattice of the present invention. The soccer ball  18  comprises leg  12   c  having a tapered portion  14   c  that intersects another portion of pasta and in this illustration legs  12   d  and  12   e,  both of which comprise tapered portions  14   d  and  14   e,  respectively that form an intersection  16   a  joined by tapered portions  14   c ,  14   d  and  14   e  of legs  12   c,    12   d  and  12   e,  respectively. Perimeter  20  surrounds soccer ball  18  and can optionally be one uniform piece of pasta or comprise legs  20   a  that also have tapered portions  22 .  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 2 b  depicts a pasta composition according to this invention in the shape of a piano  24 . The piano  24  comprises leg  12   f  having a tapered portion  14   f  that intersects, among other places with leg  12   g  having a tapered portion  14   g,  at intersection  16   b.    
         [0028]    There is generally no limitation with respect to the amount of or percent of tapered portion present within the pasta composition of this invention other than that enough tapered portion should be present in the pasta composition in order to achieve uniform cooking characteristics that exceed the characteristics of cooked conventional pasta with conventional (non-tapered) lattices.  
         [0029]    Typically, the pasta composition of the present invention has lattice with at least one leg comprising a tapered portion. Preferably, however, at least about 50%, and most preferably, at least about 90-100% of all legs present within the pasta composition of this invention are tapered at the intersections (i.e., point of contacting) making up the pasta composition.  
         [0030]    When cooking the pasta composition of the present invention, the chef or consumer may boil, steam, bake or microwave the pasta composition, utilizing standard cooking techniques. Thus, the pasta composition of the present invention may be ready to serve, for example, in under 30 minutes if boiling water is used as the cooking means and in under 15 minutes if a microwave oven is used as the cooking means.  
         [0031]    When preparing a dish (i.e., meal) comprising the pasta composition of the present invention, the pasta composition may be cooked with or added to, for example, previously cooked meats and/or vegetables. In an especially preferred embodiment, however, the pasta composition of the present invention results in a superior dish when served in soups or with sauces made commercially available by Unilever Bestfoods under the brand names Lipton, Knorr, Ragu and Bertolli.  
         [0032]    The following examples are provided to facilitate an understanding of the present invention. The examples are not intended to limit the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.  
       EXAMPLE 1  
       [0033]    A basic semolina pasta dough was made by combining the following ingredients and mixing with an electric mixer.  
                                                                 Ingredient   Weight Percent                                        Extra Fancy Semolina flour   69.0           Glycerol monostearate   1.0           Salt   1.0           Water   29.0                      
 
         [0034]    The resulting homogenous semolina pasta dough was extruded through a conventional industrial pasta making machine having a modified triangular die to produce a triangular shaped pasta composition having the lattice of the present invention, with  14 L equal to about 0.075×( 12 L),  12 L being about 2.0 cm, and  12   m  being about 10% larger than  14   m.    
       EXAMPLE 2  
       [0035]    About 43.0 grams of the pasta composition prepared in Example 1 were combined with 4 ounces of water and heated in a microwave oven (at normal power) for about 3.5 minutes. About 43.0 grams of conventional lattice type pasta (not having the lattice of the present invention) were also combined with 4 ounces of water and heated for about 3.5 minutes in a microwave oven at normal power. The former was fully hydrated and had a consistent bite when eaten wherein the latter had uncooked, non-hydrated hard portions when eaten. The example demonstrates that the superior pasta compositions having the lattice of the present invention unexpectedly heat/cook homogeneously to thereby result in a pasta composition having a consistent bite.