Celebrating National Pasta Month with Dona Elena Al Dente Pasta

A couple of weeks ago, my best friend, Aubrey, tagged me along when she got invited to an event. I later on found out that attendees who would bring a blogger friend could win prizes! User friendly much! :p

The event was organized by Flay Ace Corporation to introduce Dona Elena Al Dente Pasta and also to celebrate the National Pasta Month! I didn’t even know that there is a celebration for pasta! It was held on a Saturday afternoon at The Blackboard by Chef Michel in The Podium. Most of the attendees are mommies, so I felt a bit out of place at first. Good thing though that my inaanak, Skye, kept me entertained!

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The event started with a brief history of pasta. After that, they also discussed the different kinds of pasta. I was nodding in agreement with the speaker because I know my pasta very well. I grew up with a mother who loves to cook spaghetti, carbonara, baked macaroni and lasagna. And now that I also know my way around the kitchen, our selection of pasta dishes have started to get a little wider. But learning is a non-stop process so I was so glad when I learned a lot of new things during this event. All these time, I put oil in a pot of boiling water when cooking pasta. It turns out that this is a big no-no because oil does not add any flavors to the pasta. Salt will already do. Also, never ever rinse your cooked pasta. I used to do this because that was how Mama cooks our pasta. But because I’m lazy, I let go of the rinsing part. It turns out that rinsing pasta will remove the starch in the water which helps the pasta to absorb your sauce more! I also learned one thing which will help all the busy wives and moms out there. You can actually cook your pasta in one batch. Drain it, sprinkle with olive oil, then refrigerate! You can then divide this into portions. You can spread it throughout your different meals for the week. Imagine the time and effort that you will save. You can just cook in one batch, then make different sauces. Mukha ka ng masipag sa kusina! :p

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They also invited a nutritionist to discuss the benefits of eating pasta. According to the nutritionist, pasta is not bad for us! Pasta does not cause obesity. Don’t blame the poor pasta. Blame katakawan and katamaran mag-exercise. Pasta is a great source of carbohydrates and protein!

RJ Ledesma was also invited as one of the speakers to talk about his pasta experiences. Chef Michel also graced the event by showing us a couple of his pasta dishes! The room turned into a different beat after we started to smell the savory pasta dishes that Chef Michel was preparing. Luck was definitely on our side because we got to try an appetizer, three pasta dishes, and a dessert! If I remember it correctly, he finished cooking the two pasta dishes in approximately 20 minutes. Well, he used cooked pasta because the stove used for the event took forever to heat. But given that Dona Elena Al Dente Pasta cooks in just 10 minutes, you can actually complete a single pasta dish in that time frame!

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Now here’s the thing: I don’t like eating oil-based pasta. The first time I ate an oil-based pasta in a restaurant was such a horrible experience, which I believe traumatized me. It lacked flavor and the pasta was swimming in a pool of oil. But Chef Michel created something which overturned my fear of oil-based pasta dishes. The more surprising part is that we learned how easy to cook pasta dishes of gourmet quality! He just used olive oil, salt, pepper, shrimps, garlic and basil! It actually looked plain, but Aubrey agreed with me when I told her that it was really good!

DSC_2245 This. Killed. Me.
(in a good way, of course)

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There was also a cooking challenge for some of the chosen bloggers. 10 lucky bloggers were also fortunate enough to bring home some samples of Dona Elena Al Dente Pasta. Aubrey and I got so excited when her name was mentioned. Swerte si Skye! I lost my hope when the 10th name was called. But apparently, the blogger already went home. They called another name, but nobody claimed the prize. And then, my name was called! Bwahahaha!

I went home really happy with the new tricks I learned and my Dona Elena loots. Aside from the very informative speakers, I also think that the highlight of the event is indeed the Dona Elena Al Dente pasta. It is made from 100% durum wheat semolina, which makes the pasta al dente. Cooking for years, I have fallen into the trap of creating a pasta dish with a delicious sauce, but the soggy texture of pasta ruined everything. Thank goodness for Dona Elena Al Dente pasta. I actually put this to the test, just to make sure that it delivers what the packaging instruction states. I set up my timer, tried biting a piece of pasta, and tadah! Al dente!!! With the help of garlic, canned tuna, olive oil, salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese, I created a simple pasta dish in 10 minutes. =)

3 comments :

  1. Natawa na naman ako sa introduction! Hahaha. Very knowledgeable post! Naglalagay din ako ng oil kapag nagluluto ng pasta mali pala un now I know.

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  2. Dapat pala sinama ko din si Neri for more chances of winning. #superuserfriendly

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  3. Hi which camera do you use for most of your photos? nice blog! :)

    ReplyDelete

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