Pasta is so versatile you can season it with olives, oil, and sun-dried tomatoes and eat like a villager in Tuscany. Or you can smother it with cheese and plenty of tomato sauce like a full-blooded American. And that's just the beginning of your options. With health professionals encouraging us to cut back on so many things, pasta offers a nonguilty indulgence. A complex carbohydrate, it contains the same number of calories as protein but only half the calories of fat.
Complex carbohydrates are the main sources of dietary fiber, an important part of a healthy diet.
What makes pasta fattening is loading it with cream, butter, cheese, and oil. Such choices are allowed in basic diets, just in moderation. We occasionally add a teaspoon of salt to the water for flavor and often skip adding oil. We don't rinse pasta for hot dishes. Pasta dishes taste great.