Alexandra Ortiz | Staff Writer
The boys of fall are back and so is the RCC pasta!
The RCC Tigers football team has been getting ready to kick off their season against Bakersfield at home on Sept. 6.
Finally the excitement of the fall semester is back under the Saturday night lights but if you are not a huge football fan there is another reason you might want to stop by Wheelock Stadium this fall.
The food at the football games is a true delicacy in Riverside! From BBQ to tacos and of course hot dogs and hamburgers, there is something for everyone’s taste buds but if there is something the RCC community is known for it is for the pasta, yes pasta!
Pasta pronto, which means quick pasta in Italian, has been the highlight at the football and softball games for more than a decade.
It all started back in 2002 when RCC hosted the softball World Series. Tigers softball coach Michelle Daddona’s mother Mary Linda came up with the idea of having a snack bar.
“I told Michelle jeez there is a lot of people here and they are all bringing their own food,” Linda said. “Maybe we should have a snack bar and use it to raise money for the (softball) team.”
Mary Linda didn’t want to just make hot dogs and hamburgers, she wanted to bring in something different and that’s how Pasta Pronto got started.
Mary Linda, who owns the Claro’s Italian Market with her husband George, has brought her Italian cuisine to RCC, something easy to make, yet filling and delicious!
I know what you’re thinking, pasta and I’m trying to eat healthy?
Well nothing to worry although Pasta Pronto might not be low in calories it is a healthy dish. It has spinach, white breast chicken, is cooked in olive oil, and has Pecorino Romano cheese. It is really nutritious food.
Best part about all this is that all the money goes toward the softball team at RCC. This fundraiser helps the women with lodging, equipment etc.
“I do it for my daughter,” Mary Linda explained. “If we could get students to come out and support, we have done our job.”
Pasta Pronto is not just famous in Riverside but all through out the Orange Empire Conference community.
Coach Daddona mentioned that Tigers’ head football coach Tom Craft has told her how other coaches tell him how lucky he was because he was going to have the pasta at his football games. Athletes have gone as far as calling it “the best food in the conference.”
If that still hasn’t convinced you to try the pasta, let me just tell you that Pasta Pronto has helped seal Daddona’s parents (George and Mary Linda) into the RCC athletic hall of fame because of their service and support for the softball team.
Mary Linda and George received the President’s Award at the 2013 Hall of Fame ceremony.
“I couldn’t do what I do without my family,” Daddona said. “Without the pasta, the softball program wouldn’t be as successful as it has been so far.”
Next time you come down to a football game, try the famous Pronto Pasta because not only will you enjoying a delicious and healthy dish but you will always be supporting the Tigers’ softball team.
It can’t get any better than that!
