One of the great things about pasta is not just its inherent great taste, but its versatility. Because of the variety of shapes it can take on, and its sturdy structure, it can be stuffed with meat or smothered in meat sauce. Bacon, beef, lamb, chicken… they all go great with pasta, in the noodle or over the top in a tasty goo.

It could be something as simple as a fine spaghetti sauce of tomato paste, ground beef and mushrooms with a little basil and garlic powder. But it serves equally well in a delicious Mexican lasagna. Here’s how….

You’ll need as ingredients

1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
15 oz black beans
1 1/2 cups corn
1 1/2 cups Mexican cheese
1/2 cup chopped tomato
9 corn tortillas

and

1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons cilantro
10 oz enchilada sauce

While the oven is heating to 350°F/176°C you can prepare your ingredients. Chop the tomato, grate the Mexican cheese, let the corn thaw and dice up the cilantro. Heat a skillet to medium heat. While you’re waiting for that…

Spray a baking dish about 12in x 7in x 2in with non-stick olive oil. Arrange tortillas in the dish to cover the entire bottom surface with a small amount lapping up the sides. Spread 1/4 cup of enchilada sauce over the tortillas.

Now that the skillet is heated, brown the ground beef over medium heat for about 10 minutes and pour off the grease. Stir in the enchilada sauce, then fold in the black beans, corn and cumin. Bring the mixture to a quiet boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for a few minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking to the pan.

Once done, pour about a third of the mixture into the baking dish, then top with cheese. Pour another layer, top, and repeat until you’re out of mixture. Then cover the top layer with enchilada sauce.

Cover the top with a glass lid or aluminum foil and bake at 350°F/176°C for half an hour. Slide the dish out of the oven and remove the lid or foil, then top with a sprinkle of cheese. Bake it for another five minutes, or just let the dish sit in the oven while the cheese melts.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle a little cilantro over the top. For a slightly spicier concoction, dash a little cayenne pepper lightly around.

The result serves about 6 and each serving provides a nutritious meal of about 465 calories with 35g of protein. Though the recipe has a relatively high fat percentage (about 1/3 of the calories), with nearly 840mg of sodium, it is high in folic acid (102mcg). It also contains 6mg of niacin (vitamin B3), 5.7mg each of iron and zinc and 1.7mcg of B12. Calories can be reduced by using leaner beef or serving smaller portions.

Is pasta a healthy food? Indeed it is.

Pasta, like many foods high in carbohydrates, often gets a bad reputation. But a little basic nutrition knowledge can dispel that right away.

Carbohydrates, though they are sometimes made out to be villains, are actually similar to natural sugars. When broken down they provide a major source of glucose, which is the body’s ‘energy factory’. Glucose is in turn broken down in a process called the tricarboxylic acid cycle.

Despite the complicated name, the idea is really very simple: break down sugar and release energy. That energy is used to repair cell damage, build muscles and for all the other chemical and physical actions the body takes to maintain itself. Without energy, nothing is possible.

Without sugar, the body feeds on stored fat in a less efficient process to provide that needed energy. If you’re trying to lose weight and body fat, that’s not bad. But it can only go so far. Eventually, you need to replenish your stores of energy. Carbohydrates are the way to do that.

A number called GI (Glycemic Index) measures how quickly the body’s blood sugar level rises after the ingestion of a food. Gradual rises are better. Pasta has a GI of 41, which is similar to pears and lower than many breads. (So, yes, you can eat pasta while you lose weight.)

Pasta is healthy in other ways, as well.

Most pasta today is made from durum wheat. The semolina flour obtained from it is a good source of nutrition. It has plenty of B vitamins and folic acid, iron and niacin also known as vitamin B3. It’s low in sodium and, despite some myths generated years ago, does not contain high cholesterol.

Pasta is made with eggs. It was once thought that eggs were nutritionally bad, that they were high in cholesterol. Subsequent research showed later just how healthy eggs really are, in moderation.

As many people know, pasta forms a major component of the diet of many Mediterranean cultures, such as Italy. There is ample evidence to suggest that the diet of such cultures is very healthy, as judged from the relatively low incidence of cancer and heart disease. There are many factors, of course. But pasta is a big contributor to that result.

Pasta itself is not fattening. A cup (two servings) of cooked pasta contains about 200 calories and one gram of fat. Provided sauces, meats and other ingredients in a pasta dish are controlled, there is nothing inherently high-calorie about a pasta-based meal. In particular, a low-carbohydrate diet doesn’t necessarily lead to weight loss. What counts are the total calories, and pasta is on the low end of the scale.

Like other whole grain foods, there is also considerable evidence that these products high in insoluble fiber can help reduce the risk of certain types of cancers. While research is ongoing in the field, many studies show a reduction in colon, breast and other cancers, in part as a result of a high-fiber diet.

So go easy on the fattening meats and sauces and enjoy pasta regularly. It’s a healthy food.

After you’ve experimented a while with pastas from various sources, you’ll want to venture out on your own. Making your own homemade pasta offers the same delight as grinding your own coffee, growing your own vegetables and other do-it-yourself food and drink projects. You get the same advantages as those others, as well: a truly fresh, delicious product.

Making your own pasta is simplicity itself, though there’s a bit of effort involved. You’ll need:

1 lb of fine white flour. You can use Grade 00 Italian, or American-style breadmaking flour. The latter has a bit more gluten, making for a firmer pasta.

4 eggs. For a more ‘egg noodle’ color and flavor, drain off some of the whites and add more yolks.

That’s it, apart from a little bit of salt and possibly some water.

Pour the flour into a large bowl and make a round valley in the center to hold the eggs. Beat the eggs just slightly in another bowl and pour into the ‘valley of flour’. Add a pinch of salt and stir gently until the flour is wetted with the egg.

If the mixture is still dry pour some water into your palm, then release and fling the remaining drops into the bowl. Don’t overdo it. The idea is just to keep the flour from being powdery, not to use water as an ingredient.

Now for the part that takes a bit of effort: kneading. To avoid fatigue, use the heel of your hand more than the fingers. Knead the dough for 10-15 minutes. That allows the gluten in the flour to combine, making for a firm, but elastic pasta dough. Let the dough rest, covered with a moist towel, for about 20 minutes.

Now for the shaping steps.

Sprinkle a bit of flour on a large work surface. A marble countertop is perfect, but wood or formica will do. It needs to be at least one foot by one foot and very flat for best results.

Roll the pasta dough out with a wooden roller that had a few sprinkles of flour sprinkled over its surface. Or, you can use a round empty wine bottle. Take care not to press hard enough to break the bottle, of course.

Start from the middle and work your way out until you have a large, thin slab (about the thickness of a dime). Flip and flour lightly to keep it from sticking, but go easy in order to avoid drying out the pasta too much.

Now you can cut and shape to preference.

You can use a pasta machine to slice it into fettuccine or lasagna or any of a dozen other shapes. Or you can slice it into smaller shapes for ravioli or tortellini.

Remember that when boiling fresh pasta you should shorten the cooking length. Store-bought pasta contains durum wheat, which takes longer to cook. Fresh, homemade pasta has less gluten, making for a quicker meal. Three to five minutes should do it.

For variety, pasta can be colored or flavored. Green is among the most common choices. Just add to the mix a few ounces of raw spinach that has been heated a few minutes. For red, use finely diced carrots instead with a tablespoon of tomato paste.