Kitchen Tips: Store Cooked Leftover Pasta In Easy Ways

It is easy to unintentionally cook more pasta than you actually need unless the recipe specifically states that a whole box of spaghetti must be used. Unsauced pasta that has been cooked for a while becomes sticky and clumps together. Fortunately, there are a few different ways to store cooked pasta so that you can use it in recipes later. You can keep lasagna noodles and giant stuffing shells, but they don't work as well as the smaller varieties of pasta. You can do this with any form of pasta, from spaghetti to penne to little shells. Making a quick dinner later in the week (or month) is simple when you prepare cooked pasta in advance and freeze it.

Here's how you can store the pasta.

•Drain the pasta after cooking it according to the directions on the package.

•Rinse the pasta in the colander with cold water while it's still warm. There will be some starch removed as a result.

•To stop spaghetti from sticking, toss it with a little oil. 1 to 2 tablespoons per half pound of pasta should be good to go.

•Put the pasta in the refrigerator to chill.

•When the pasta has cooled, take it out of the refrigerator and put one serving's worth of spaghetti into a separate plastic bag.

•Simply bring a small saucepan of water to a boil, add the pasta, and cook for 30 seconds or until heated through to reheat. Flow freely. The pasta will still remain as fresh as when you originally cooked it.

•Pasta in sauce and smaller portions can both be quickly heated in the microwave.

In The Freezer

You can put plain cooked pasta in the freezer if you need to keep it for a longer time. As freezer bags have thinner walls than storage containers, they are a good choice for this strategy. Similar to the process for storing food in the refrigerator, you must remove the air from the bag before sealing it and toss the pasta with a little oil or butter.