I once read that the average Italian consumes 60 pounds of pasta per year. After reflecting on this, I conceded that it was probably true, but in my family at least, it was some top-notch pasta. You see, I didn’t even know that boxed pasta even existed until about fourth grade, when I saw a friend’s mother make it for us. Up until that point, I had subsided solely off of my Nonna’s homemade pastas.

I would sit in her kitchen at that little wooden table and learn how to make all types of pastas, from gnocchi to orecchiette (or “little hats” , as my siblings and I liked to call them). All the tomato sauce I ate was homemade, boiled on my Nonna’s gas stove. I would watch the heat from the rise from the pot and make the kitchen air hazy in the summertime.