Barilla Helps Families Bring Love To The Dinner Table In Celebration Of World Pasta Day

BANNOCKBURN, Ill., Oct. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- For centuries, pasta has been a dinnertime favorite, loved by people around the world. There's even a day dedicated to celebrating it, and it's not hard to understand why: pasta is a versatile, affordable, easy, nutritious, comforting meal that brings people together. But now, with 58 percent of parents agreeing life today is more hectic than a year ago, and an additional 74 percent worrying about what happens when their family doesn't have a home-cooked meal; pasta is more important than ever. That's why in celebration of World Pasta Day, Barilla has partnered with Jenny Rosenstrach, author of "Dinner: A Love Story," to create a special edition cookbook designed to help families everywhere bring love to the table on even the busiest nights.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121025/CG99958)

"I know how important dinnertime is, and I also know that I'm not alone in my love for pasta – so it's a natural fit," said Jenny Rosenstrach, author of "Dinner: A Love Story." "I've partnered with Barilla because I share the company's mission to help parents figure out realistic strategies to get a meal on the table, and help parents realize that having some quick and delicious pasta dinners in their repertoire is an easy way to make that happen."

Survey Reveals Love for Pasta, Multitasking
A new Barilla survey found the love for pasta is resounding but increasingly hectic lives make at-home meal preparation more challenging than ever. People are seeking easy go-to-meals that are simple, crowd-pleasers and allow for multi-tasking while cooking. A pasta meal can meet all these needs and parents believe it offers much more:

• 90 percent of parents agree pasta is an easy meal option
• 89 percent agree pasta is a meal the whole family enjoys
• 85 percent agree pasta can be prepared using on-hand ingredients from the pantry
• 48 percent agree they can multi-task while making pasta
• More than two-thirds of parents agree that pasta is a nutritious option
• "Love" is one of the most common words referred to by parents thinking about pasta

"Growing up in Italy, my family used to sit together around the dinner table, enjoying a warm plate of pasta and each other's company. A bowl of pasta is like a hug – warm, embracing and everyone loves one. I recommend good quality pasta for a great experience – it should never stick or clump and should be al dente," said Chef Lorenzo Boni, Barilla America Executive Chef. "Pasta doesn't have to be complicated to be delicious. That's why we are happy to celebrate World Pasta Day with our special edition cookbook to help make dinner time simple for today's families, so they can share quality time together around the table."

The Modern Family Pasta Cookbook
The Modern Family Pasta cookbook features 10 delicious recipes celebrating pasta putting love on the dinner table. These recipes address the top barriers to mealtime in American households – to help make dinner enjoyable and, more importantly, possible. Recipes developed by Chef Lorenzo Boni like Lemon Spaghetti and Creamy Fettuccine with Italian Sausage and Leeks will give any family something to look forward to while sharing the table.  

The cookbook along with a graphic featuring statistics from the Barilla survey can be downloaded at www.barilla.com/modernfamilycookbook.

Feeding America
To help others share the table together, Barilla is partnering with Feeding America®, the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity, whose mission is to feed America's hungry. For every virtual hug shared on the Barilla Facebook page Barilla will donate the equivalent of four meals to Feeding America, with a goal of donating 200,000 total meals. Barilla will hug back with a free download to The Modern Family Pasta Cookbook and coupon for the first 25,000 visitors.

For more information, please visit apps.facebook.com/barillaworldpastaday.

About the Barilla Group
Barilla, originally established in 1877 as a bread and pasta shop in Parma, Italy, ranks as one of today's top Italian food groups. Barilla leads in the global pasta business, the pasta sauces business in continental Europe, the bakery products business in Italy and the crispbread business in Scandinavia.

Barilla owns 41 production sites (13 in Italy and 28 outside Italy) and exports to more than 100 countries. Every year, about 2,500,000 tons of food products under the brands of Barilla, Mulino Bianco, Voiello, Pavesi, Academia Barilla, Wasa, Harrys (France and Russia), Golden Toast (Germany), Misko (Greece), Filiz (Turkey), Yemina and Vesta (Mexico), are featured on dining tables all over the world.

Barilla has become one of the world's most esteemed food companies and is recognized worldwide as a symbol of Italian know-how by respecting its longstanding traditional principles and values, considering employees a fundamental asset and developing leading-edge production systems.

For more information, please visit: www.barillagroup.com

About Jenny Rosenstrach
Jenny Rosenstrach is the creator of the blog DinnerALoveStory.com, and author of the book "Dinner: A Love Story" (Ecco/HarperCollins). She is a wife and mother of two whose goal is to help parents manage their hectic lives and still be able to prepare a dinner for their families. Her book, along with her blog, includes tips and recipes on how to get families more involved in the dinnertime. Jenny's work has appeared in numerous national publications including Bon Appetit, Real Simple, and The New York Times.

About Feeding America
With a network of 200 member food banks across the country, Feeding America supplies more than 3 billion pounds of food and grocery products annually. Through the assistance of local and national food assistance programs, the organization is able to provide nutritious, fresh foods to Americans struggling with hunger; safe and nurturing places for children to have a meal; emergency assistance for disaster victims; as well as a chance at self-sufficiency for adults trying to break the cycle of poverty and hunger. For more information please visit www.FeedingAmerica.org.

Contact:
Carrie Becker
[email protected]
312-233-1244

SOURCE The Barilla Group