Although Italians originally invented pasta as a fastener to keep Sicily from floating away, they abandoned it for less delicious moorings after locals on both sides kept snacking their way toward separation. Tether your taste buds to today's Groupon: for $9, you get one large ready-to-bake meat lasagna from National Pasta Corp. in Cambridge (an $18.50 value).

The dough-artists at National Pasta Corp. forge many varieties of fresh pasta by hand in the store to the delight of customers' palates. A pre-made large meat lasagna provides teeth with the opportunity to spelunk through scrumptious strata of pasta, local mozzarella and parmesan cheeses, ground beef, and tomato-meat sauce. Patrons can pick up their freshly crafted ready-to-bake dish at the store before taking it home and introducing the multi-layered meal to the oven. Six to eight eaters can silence the growls of the trolls that reside in their stomachs with a single lasagna.