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How to Sauce Pasta with Andrew Carmellini
By Meredith Arthur, Eric Slatkin, and Blake Smith
Andrew Carmellini, the former chef at A Voce, is also the author of a new book, Urban Italian, with his wife, Gwen. Here he demonstrates the proper way to sauce pasta; starch and fat are crucial.
Butter? cheese? WRONG!
msmarabini - absolutely NOT. The water should have a taste of sea salt but definately not taste like sea water. Depending on the type of pasta you are using you will more likely end up with something inedible than tasting good. In addition, if you follow the advice of the video you will have added a bunch of salt to the sauce as well probably ruining it.
DEFINITELY agree that the worst thing to do is to cook the pasta first and then let it sit getting cold and sticky while you make the sauce. also, can we talk about salting the pasta water adequately? Americans never do this correctly. this country chronically undersalts its pasta. yes, it can be daunting to drop a big bunch of salt in to the water, but you must keep in mind that most of the salt...+READ
DEFINITELY agree that the worst thing to do is to cook the pasta first and then let it sit getting cold and sticky while you make the sauce. also, can we talk about salting the pasta water adequately? Americans never do this correctly. this country chronically undersalts its pasta. yes, it can be daunting to drop a big bunch of salt in to the water, but you must keep in mind that most of the salt stays in the water. only a little gets absorbed into the pasta itself.-COLLAPSE
if you're making pasta without a tomato sauce, say with some mushrooms and pancetta, fry a few sage leaves in olive oil and then toss the pasta in the sagey oil before serving. it adds a lovely fragrant warmth.
I agree with GFR -- Italian families in my neighborhood growing up would make extra sauce -- most would be for saucing the pasta, and the rest would be for topping (need a little sauce to dip the bread in!)
This video is pretty consistent with advice I have seen on the Food Network for the last couple of years. I must say, it's a revelation to me. I did it exactly the wrong way for years and years and years. Thank you, Andrew Carmellini, and Chowhound videos! I've tried this, and it works!
Like Thitdstone, however, I still want to reserve some tomato sauce for adding on top of the pasta at the...+READ
This video is pretty consistent with advice I have seen on the Food Network for the last couple of years. I must say, it's a revelation to me. I did it exactly the wrong way for years and years and years. Thank you, Andrew Carmellini, and Chowhound videos! I've tried this, and it works!
Like Thitdstone, however, I still want to reserve some tomato sauce for adding on top of the pasta at the table. I know that Mario Batali, Marcela Hazan, and all the other expert Italian cooks, say that the pasta, not the sauce, is the feature of the dish, but I cannot overcome a lifetime of (American) conditioning. THE SAUCE IS THE THING, not the pasta. And I want to drown the pasta in sauce.
But this defect of mine takes nothing away from the advice given. It is wonderful and vastly improves the nature of the dish.-COLLAPSE
sfdude, it's standard practice to cook pasta in heavily salted water in restaurants. It's an accepted rule, it should taste like sea water.
At home, it's totally your call. Just so you know that's what the pros do...
I tried this tonight, forgot to add the butter, it tasted excellent. Thanks for learnin' me.
On salting the water, I have always added about a tablespoon of salt per gallon of water and that has been about right; adding handfuls of salt would seem excessive to me -- it is not like we are boiling a lobster here.
I'm glad someone did a vid like this! And msmarabarini, you're right about salting the water. You at least need enough to actually taste the salt when you taste a bit of the water.
Yes, sauce is wonderful. But try tossing some HOT cooked al dente spaghetti in only a small amount of freshly chopped, home grown plum tomatoes. Add a few bits of chopped garlic and some torn basel leaves on top. The hot pasta will heat up the tomatoes and herbs. Don't put too much on the spaghetti. Its different but very fragrant and mouth watering.
Wow, I never thought I was doing anything wrong! And the pasta really does taste better. Thanks!
While living in Naples, my neighbors always told me not to mix olive oil and butter or onions and garlic.
THIS Italian boy thinks NOT, msmarabini.
While some sale is necessary, good grief; THAT much salt inna d'agua justa means'a tootoosalty pasta. might as well skip puttin' the sugo on it then.
I gottabouta 79 Italian aunts n'grammas in Chicago to back me up on this...
Everyone should see this! These are the details that make the difference.
Would also be helpful if there were a video about "How to properly salt the water for pasta"...so many people out there dont know (well, maybe not on this website) that pasta water should taste like sea water, and that it often takes a couple of handfuls of coarse sea salt for a large pot of boiling water, to get the right...+READ
Everyone should see this! These are the details that make the difference.
Would also be helpful if there were a video about "How to properly salt the water for pasta"...so many people out there dont know (well, maybe not on this website) that pasta water should taste like sea water, and that it often takes a couple of handfuls of coarse sea salt for a large pot of boiling water, to get the right taste...another little tip I learned from my italian relatives.-COLLAPSE
Major typos there, lol, I'm a magnet for posting when I'm in a hurry..
I mean chicken stock/homemade chicken soup of course.. and when the pasta "Browns" :P
gourmandadventurer, I cook my pasta that way too, it's great!!
I make a variety of dishes this way too, sometimes stirfrying small pasta in oil until it "brows" (not burns) - the trick is to watch it and keep turning it, when it's a light golden colour I add veggie or children stock (flakes of chicken) and then cook it right in there, the flavour is amazing!
I like this video, it's great, it's...+READ
gourmandadventurer, I cook my pasta that way too, it's great!!
I make a variety of dishes this way too, sometimes stirfrying small pasta in oil until it "brows" (not burns) - the trick is to watch it and keep turning it, when it's a light golden colour I add veggie or children stock (flakes of chicken) and then cook it right in there, the flavour is amazing!
I like this video, it's great, it's nice to see the finished product because it looks so good and all the sauce is stuck to just about every part of the pasta, and it's not running on the plate. Beautiful.-COLLAPSE
Seriously try what I'm eating right now: Pasta cooked in the tomato sauce itself. It's amazing. I'll never go back to cooking the pasta in water! Just make sure you add enough water to the sauce for the pasta to absorb. YUM.
great info. thanks.
I enjoyed this video and the comments, gave me a fresh way of looking at cooking at home.
Sometimes though the bachelor way of dumping bottled sauce on pasta is the only way to go. :)
If by "drowning", foodperv, you mean the "American way" of dumping it on top never actually achieves an equal distribution of the sauce, you're correct; some gets drowned and much barely "tinted". Yuk.
Andrew's methodology here is akin to all of the great Italian chefs I was surrounded by (and fed by) as I grew up. They however would reserve a portion of the sauce before adding the cooked pasta...+READ
If by "drowning", foodperv, you mean the "American way" of dumping it on top never actually achieves an equal distribution of the sauce, you're correct; some gets drowned and much barely "tinted". Yuk.
Andrew's methodology here is akin to all of the great Italian chefs I was surrounded by (and fed by) as I grew up. They however would reserve a portion of the sauce before adding the cooked pasta to the rest and then that was served at the table for those of us who wished to add more (which was pretty much everyone). So, I might need to disagree slightly - the sauces were always the focus with the pasta serving as the 'distribution vehicle' for them.-COLLAPSE
the other thing that s/b mentioned is ....
it's pasta/sauce not sauce/pasta
the macaroni basically s/b just coated in sauce
not sreaming for a life guard because it is drowning in sauce this drowning seems to be the american way
AMEN! It's about time somebody set the record straight! Dumping sauce on top of tepid pasta is a foul "All-American" habit that's somehow become all too pervasive (and, like Andrew said is "just wrong!").
I might take slight issue with a couple details. Depending upon your "sugo" recipe, adding the olive oil may be superflous or even slightly detrimental and is "bonus" fat that may or may not...+READ
AMEN! It's about time somebody set the record straight! Dumping sauce on top of tepid pasta is a foul "All-American" habit that's somehow become all too pervasive (and, like Andrew said is "just wrong!").
I might take slight issue with a couple details. Depending upon your "sugo" recipe, adding the olive oil may be superflous or even slightly detrimental and is "bonus" fat that may or may not benefit the overall effect so use judgment here. The same goes for the fresh herbs. Minced parsley and basil are favorites of mine for this purpose but again, the sauce itself should be the guide as to whether they are added or not depending on how and what herbs were used in the sauce itself.-COLLAPSE