Having pasta for dinner is a Sunday tradition at my house. There’s no particular reason for it except that my mother doesn’t feel like cooking on a Sunday evening. I remember the time of my first tryst with pasta. It was at a friend’s house where her mother had prepared a bowl of piping hot macaroni (elbow pasta) for us. Now, macaroni, though a type of pasta, became a familiar territory for me. Interestingly, my fascination for this Italian dish knew no bounds and I started to order a bowl of pasta whenever I went out to eat.
Usually, it is the penne variety that is cooked at my home but I always yearn for fettucine. The ribbon-shaped pasta, though made with the same ingredients as any other shape, tends to give an Italian feel to the dish (according to me). However, my mother doesn’t prefer cooking this kind because she says that it doesn’t boil properly and is difficult to chew.
In a quest to help out my mother and others like her who have a tough time making a delicious pasta, here are some useful tips and tricks.
1. Boiling The Pasta
The first step is to ensure that you have added salt to the water in which you are boiling your pasta. Adding the right amount of salt helps in ensuring that the pasta doesn’t turn out bland. The Italians usually say that pasta water should taste like seawater which indicates the importance of it being saline.
2. Cook The Pasta A Little Less
Now, when we say this, it doesn’t mean we want you to eat under-cooked pasta. There is a technique called al dente that the Italians swear by, when making pasta or noodles. They believe that cooking the pasta a few minutes lesser than the time given on the packet ensures that the pasta is firm yet soft from the inside but is able to hold shape.
3. Do No Rinse
Packaged food is made in manufacturing units with the help of machines, post which it is immediately packed and sent out for shipment. This means that there has been no human contact and it safe to be consumed after boiling. Rinsing the pasta deprives it of its starchy content which actually adds to the taste of the pasta.
4. Save The Pasta Water
After you’ve boiled the pasta and drained the water, store some of the water and drain out the rest. This is a very effective trick that I learnt from a friend recently and well, it worked. Adding a little bit of this water after you’ve made your sauce and added it to your pasta, allows it to get a thicker consistency. Sometimes, it is even called liquid gold because of its magical flavours.
5. The Sauce Is Meant To Be In The Pasta
Often times, people make this mistake of layering the sauce over the pasta after transferring it on to the plate. That’s why the pasta tastes so bland. The sauce is supposed to go in the pasta and not on it. Mixing the sauce and pasta together in the same pan is a great practice that you should start now.
So, are you pasta ready?