- Strega Nona, whose name means "Grandma Witch," is the subject of whispers in her village because of her strange abilities.
- Even so, everyone goes to see her when they have problems—even the priest and the nuns who live in the convent.
- Strega Nona can cure headaches, make love potions, and get rid of warts.
- Because she's getting older, Strega Nona decides to hire someone to help her around her house.
- She puts an ad in the town square and when Big Anthony (who doesn't pay attention) responds, she hires him.
- Strega Nona puts Big Anthony to work cleaning, gardening, and taking care of the animals. As she explains his chores to him, she tells him there's one thing he must never do: touch her magic pasta pot.
- Big Anthony works at his job without problems for many days, until…he sees Strega Nona making pasta with her magic pot.
- Big Anthony watches as Strega Nona sings a few rhymes and the pasta pot magically produces their dinner. Unfortunately, Big Anthony only sees part of the ritual, and doesn't see how Strega Nona gets the pot to stop making pasta.
- The next day, Big Anthony tells all the villagers about the magic pasta pot, and they laugh at him.
- Big Anthony is upset that everyone thinks he's a fool and can't wait for his chance to prove them wrong.
- Strega Nona tells Anthony she has to go visit a friend for a few days and asks him to take care of things at her house. Before she leaves, she reminds him again not to touch the pasta pot. (You can probably guess where this is headed.)
- As soon as Strega Nona is gone, Big Anthony grabs the pot, says the magic words, and gets it to start making pasta.
- Then he runs into town and invites the whole village over for dinner.
- Everyone is impressed with Big Anthony and his never-ending supply of pasta…until he can't figure out how to make it stop.
- Pasta keeps streaming out of the pot, and nothing Big Anthony says or does will put an end to it.
- Giant waves of pasta flow out of Strega Nona's house and begin to overtake the village.
- The villagers are sure they're town is doomed.
- When Strega Nona returns, she immediately knows what has happened.
- She performs the end of the ritual and makes the pot stop, saving the town from destruction by linguine.
- The villagers are grateful to Strega Nona, but they are none too pleased with Big Anthony.
- They're ready to put Big Anthony in the stocks, but Strega Nona has a better idea.
- She hands Anthony a fork and tells him to start eating. He's the one who wanted to eat pasta from her magic pasta pot, so he'd better get eating.
- Strega Nona goes home and goes to bed, and Anthony eats…and eats…and eats, until his tummy is very, very full.