By Whitney Coy

When you think of Italian food, what comes to mind? For many, it's probably a giant plate of spaghetti noodles, topped with a hearty meat sauce and a generous serving of juicy meatballs. Unfortunately, that dish you're envisioning isn't the least bit Italian.

It may be a signature dish of many Italian restaurants in the U.S., but that dish doesn't bear much resemblance to the Italian dishes that started our love for spaghetti, or the way true Italians eat the dish today. I spoke with a few chefs and real-life Italians to get more of a feel for how it's supposed to be done. What I learned was just how much we're screwing it all up.

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Source: http://www.mashed.com/