The Case for Pasta

Lots of attention is paid to pasta in October, national pasta month. No matter what the food police dictate about pasta like calling it a forbidden food, or a carb with consequences, it will always stand the test of time as good and wholesome when prepared correctly and in keeping with tradition.

If you have followed my books over the years, you already know the good and the bad about pasta. You know that fresh and dried pasta cook differently. Fresh pasta is made from eggs and flour, although there are some regional variations; some use a larger ratio of egg yolks to whole eggs, as in the Piedmont and some use white wine in place of eggs in the dough as in Liguria. 

Dried pasta, made from semolina flour and water was born in Naples, and it became the pasta epicenter for the rest of the world. And even though there are many superior dried types of pasta imported from all over Italy, I will always prefer freshly made to dry. It is lighter, cooks faster and has nuances that manufactured boxed pasta could never have.

And the bad? That depends on who is preparing it and how it is consumed. Always a first course, it is never THE meal unless it is part of a casserole like a timballo. It is never drowned in sauce but rather lightly coats each piece so there is a nice balance of flavor between pasta and sauce. And four ounces is an average serving. 

The universal thinking about pasta is that it is a cinch to cook and therein lies the problem. Buying the right kind of pasta is the first step. The next step is the pot in which you cook it. 1 would not be without a 7-to 8-quart-capacity pasta pot with a colander insert that allows for easy lifting from the cooking water and draining of the pasta.  When ready to cook, fill the pot with the insert with 4 to 6 quarts of water for every pound of pasta. If you have filtered tap water, use it. Bring the water to a rolling boil, salt it, using 2 tablespoons per 4 quarts of water, then add the pasta.

The reason so many people fail to cook pasta correctly is due to not using enough water to allow for the pasta to expand during the cooking process. Some think that adding oil to the cooking water will eliminate this problem, but it only compounds it and I have never seen this practice in Italy. Adding oil will leave a slimy coating on pasta and make it very difficult for sauce to adhere to it.

If you are cooking spaghetti or other long types of pasta, fan the spaghetti out with your hands before putting it into the water. Use a wooden spoon or spaghetti fork to submerge the pasta below the water- line. Stir once, place the lid on the pot, and bring the water to a boil, then uncover and cook the pasta until it is al dente, that is, it is firm, keep its shape, does not collapse or look soggy, and yet is cooked when you bite into it. If you are cooking short cuts of pasta like rigatoni or fusilli, add them all at once to the water, stir with a wooden spoon, cover, bring to a boil, and remove the cover and stir once again.

Frozen filled pasta is another matter. Adding, for example, frozen ravioli to boiling water will bring down the temperature of the water and it will take longer for the water to come back to the boil. In this case, cook the ravioli or other filled pasta in small batches, removing them with a skimmer or pasta scoop as they are cooked and transfer them to a heated bowl or platter. Keep them warm and covered until all the cooking is complete. Knowing when pasta is sufficiently cooked is achieved only by trial and error. In Italy, pasta is cooked to a much firmer consistency and continues to cook a bit more when it is drained.

Thicker pasta like orecchiette (little ears) or farfalle (butterflies) will take longer to cook uniformly. Instructions on store-bought packages give a range of 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the cut, but oftentimes this is too long and results in soggy pasta. For casserole-type dishes requiring boiling the pasta and then baking it, it is best to undercook the pasta just a bit since it will cook again in the oven.

As soon as the pasta is cooked, drain it by lifting the insert out of the pot, and shake off the excess water but allow a little to remain since this will help to evenly distribute sauce. Keep those rules in mind and you could enjoy pasta everyday, just like the Italians and walk away from the table guilt free.