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When digging into a pasta course, you want the pasta and sauce to cohere, otherwise the sauce will pool on the plate and leave the pasta bare. There are a few simple tricks that help.
“What you actually want,” explains mbfant, “is not for the sauce to stick to the pasta but for the pasta to absorb the sauce. Anything that gives the pasta a slick surface will prevent this from happening,” including rinsing the pasta or adding oil to the cooking water.
The brand of pasta you use can also make a difference. “Extrusion through bronze dies (as opposed to stainless steel or even Teflon) imparts a rough surface to the pasta that, among other things, makes the pasta absorbent,” says mbfant. Bronze die-extruded brands include supermarket staple De Cecco, as well as Latini and Benedetto Cavalieri, which are available at specialty markets.
Several Chowhounds recommend finishing the pasta in a pan with the sauce. soypower ladles some sauce into a skillet over medium-low heat, adds a serving or two of pasta when it’s just shy of al dente, and cooks until the pasta is done.
Other hounds note that the pasta shape you use can make a difference. “Long, thin pasta shapes simply do not hold sauce as do the shaped pastas,” says Gio, while silverhawk notes that shapes such as shells, radiatore, and penne “are pretty much designed to hold sauce.” Check out CHOW’s guide to pairing pasta shapes and sauces.
Board Link: Why won’t my sauce stick to my pasta?
This autumn & winter we've become enamored of using the new electric skillet from Target with the rectangular removable pan & glass lid by Rival.
I heap lots of sea salt into the dry pan while it's warming, pour in 1.5 pitchers of Britta water (green model - not sure of size) and bring to a boil, covered.
Then, with one end of the box of organic pasta open, I aim at the left side of the...+READ
This autumn & winter we've become enamored of using the new electric skillet from Target with the rectangular removable pan & glass lid by Rival.
I heap lots of sea salt into the dry pan while it's warming, pour in 1.5 pitchers of Britta water (green model - not sure of size) and bring to a boil, covered.
Then, with one end of the box of organic pasta open, I aim at the left side of the water, lettting ALL pasta pour out there and slowly moving my hand holding the box to the right, ending with the strands all neatly submerged (I sometimes, like yesterday, add (2) boxes at a time (1 pound each).
Once in the water and all orientated most perfectly perpendicular to each other, I use a wooden fork to jab & jiggle here & there among them, making sure no sticking takes place among them.
Soon enough, they're done to perfection!
I then stab at the water with tongs in each hand, lift an aligned serving and lay it diagonal on a plate for simple service ~ my children prefer salted organic butter, sometimes with garlic sauteed in it, sometimes not & a dusting of Romano, or not, depending.
Yesterday, it was all about Carbonera - sweet peas & bacon & Alfredo, from Fresh & Easy with plenty of added freshly browned bacon crumbles and additional peas & a small vat of additional sauce ~ The finished it in no time!
Here's what I did:
While the pasta was cooking, I steamed the peas & fried the bacon.
When the pasta was ready, I poured the sauce into the bottom of an 8-cup glass measuring cup, then, added about 6 cups of pasta and "folded" repeatedly.
Then, I repeated with another "fresh batch" until all was completely covered.
Once all was covered in the sauce, I embellished with the bacon, tossing to get it distributed.
Finally, I made sure peas were throughout & plated it with Romano available by request.
For myself, I set aside some plain pasta and simply heated a thin layer of organic bottled tomatoe basil in a wide skillet's bottom, plopped in the pasta, tossed-tossed-tossed and plated it.
The accompanying sourdough with garlic butter and bits of Fontina over the top I heated with the same electric rectangular skillet, lid on, while "cleaning up the red sauce" as a cook's treat in the other skillet '-)
Easy-peasy & flavor-full in EVERY BITE for BOTH dishes :-)
Unless pasta is being served with wilted slivers of fresh garlic plant greens, or chives, or similar, NEVER add oil ~ and then only the very best & _AFTER DRAINING ONLY!
May I suggest the most stupendous small estate-grown extra virgin Silver Medal winning California olive oil from Allure Estates, in Templeton, California?
SPECTACULAR!-COLLAPSE