Few dishes provide the comfortable feeling of a plate of rigatoni and sauce, a bowl of mac and cheese, or a thick slab of lasagne. Pasta has been a core food for millennia, and with a bit of research you can find endless recipes that feature our doughy friend. Plus, not only does pasta fill you up, it also has lots of nutrients to keep you healthy and energized — which is why long-distance runners eat lots of it before a big run. So it makes sense for us to celebrate this extremely versatile, useful and tasty food throughout National Pasta Month this October.