“Eating pasta can be advantageous to your health, satisfying, and economical. Pasta should be a staple in every kitchen.”

I don’t know about you but healthy and pasta are my two favorite words. As soon as I received my cookbook from the dynamic Bastianich sibling duos, I knew this would be one I would not be able to put down.

As an owner of more than one dozen restaurants—including Babbo, which he co-owns with chef Mario Batali—it’s amazing that restaurateur Joe Bastianich can eat healthy.

In the book, brother and sister Bastianich provide tips, instructions, and delicious recipes for making pasta on the healthy side. They heavily emphasized this is not a diet book – they wanted to guide the reader to enjoy more of the food you love in ways that are good for you. What I enjoyed learning most from their book was how they explained the health benefits of cooking pasta al dente. It also explained all the ingredients and cooking methods that maximize taste but minimize fat content and calories; and they provide us with 100 mouth-watering recipes for regular, whole grain, and gluten-free pastas, including: Gnocchi with Lentils, Onions and Spinach; Bucatini with Broccoli Walnut Pesto; Linguine with Shrimp and Lemon; Summer Couscous Salad with Crunchy Vegetables; Spaghetti and Onion Frittata, and many more.

Below, Joe and Tanya Bastianich and I discussed their love for Italian food, what health means to them and they even let me in to what their last meals would be.

CFG: What does “health” mean to you?

TB: Essence of how you live is to be healthy. You got to be healthy and enjoy but eat well.

CFG: What would be your last meal?

TB: Spaghetti with white clam sauce.

JB: That’s mine, Tanya. Why do you always have to take my answers?  Okay, it would be our mother’s lasagna bolognese, with ragu.

In celebration of their new book launch, the Bastianich sibling duos and I are going to be giving away their cookbook to 2 lucky Chicago Food Girl readers! This is the perfect addition to your kitchen and all you have to do is enter the giveaway form below by May 4th, 2015 and you’ll be entered for a chance to win! 2 random winners will be picked and be announced Tuesday, May 5th. Winner will be verified, emailed and have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. Bloggers are not responsible for prize shipment. Enter through the rafflecopter below.

Good Luck!

o Enter between 04/29 – 05/04/15 (11:59pm EST)

o Prize: Two (2) ‘Healthy Pasta’ cookbook

o Winners has 72 hours to respond to email or new winner will be selected
o Free shipping to U.S. only
o No purchase necessary
o Winner has 1 month to claim prize
o Prize value: $30 | No cash value

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Tags: book, cooking, eating in, free, giveaway, italian, joe bastianich, masterchef, recipe, tv, win