It Turns Out We've Been Eating Pasta Wrong This Entire Time

Oh, pasta. We love it smothered in pesto or baked in a lasagne. Creamy or tomato based, we're not fussy - just give us a side of garlic bread and half a block of cheese and we're good to go.

But it turns out, we've actually been committing a major pasta faux pas this whole time - and we reckon you have too.

Did you know that covering a pasta dish with cheese is actually a major no-no?

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According to the experts at Italian food giant Napolina, adding cheese to a dish would be seen as a great offence to the chef who prepared it if you were in Italy - but it turns out a lot of us are guilty of it.

Despite Brits' love of Italian food, a new study of 2,000 people has revealed more than 60 per cent of us are unaware of the 'correct' ways to prepare and eat it.

Loading our carbs with cheese isn't the only problem. Eating pasta with a side of garlic bread or putting oil in the boiling water are huge no-nos, too - but 62 per cent of us do this on the reg.

Come to think of it, we can't remember the last time we had pasta without at least one cheeky slice of garlic bread.

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It doesn't stop there. The study - by Napolina - found more than a quarter of Brits said they add cream to their carbonara and 67 per cent had no idea the traditional way to make the creamy pasta involves cracking a raw egg in at the end.

Added to this, two-fifths habitually overcook their pasta while 40 per cent regularly cut up their spaghetti before eating it - another huge no-no.

It's a similar story with pizza, too. Some 43 per cent of us like multiple toppings on our pizza, but traditionally, it's served with no more than three (often just tomato sauce and basil).

And while you might be used to dipping in the likes of garlic sauce, mayo and ketchup, in Italy it's accompanied by a simple side of oil and balsamic vinegar.

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Are you eating your Italian dishes the 'correct' way?! Here are the most common faux pas:

1. Enjoying garlic bread alongside pasta

2. Consuming bread before starting a meal

3. Eating stuffed pizza crusts

4. Covering an Italian dish with cheese

5. Making pizza with more than three toppings

6. Never eating pasta 'al dente'

7. Not using passata to make a pasta sauce

8. Cutting spaghetti before eating it so it is shorter

9. Adding cream to Carbonara

10. Putting oil in pasta water

Anyone else literally do all of these?

Topics: Tasty Food, Food And Drink, food news

Lucy Devine

Lucy is a journalist working for Tyla. After graduating with a master's degree in journalism, she has worked in both print and online and is particularly interested in fashion, food, health and women's issues. Northerner, coffee addict, says hun a lot. Get in touch at [email protected].

@lucedevine