Poor pasta. One of our favorite comfort foods has been shunned in favor of our anything-but-carbs obsession. But pasta is not all about excess and gluttonous hedonism. Its roots are more frugal, humble, restrained. Pasta is actually one of the best ways to eat on a budget and use up food scraps, and the ingredients are simple and inexpensive.

It’s just flour and egg, maybe some water. Cheese too, if you’re being fancy. Maybe some fresh vegetables from the garden, or something you foraged in the woods. Or perhaps a bit of precious pork fat ― not too much ― from the family’s last pig. And unlike baking, pasta is imperfect ― knobbly and forgiving ― much like the beautiful Italian grandmothers featured in the new cookbook Pasta Grannies: The Secrets of Italy’s Best Home Cooks by Vicky Bennison ($29.99, Hardie Grant Books).