Restaurants devote their menus to this favorite food: pasta. Why, because we love it, it’s healthy, does not cost much, and dishes can be made in minutes. Pasta is manufactured with flour and water, and some varieties contain oil and eggs. Higher quality pasta often contains Durham Wheat which is most commonly found in dried pastas. It is recommended that you store dried pasta in an airtight container for up to six months and fresh pasta, refrigerated for up to one month. Fresh pastas pair well with rich sauces like Carbonara because it tends to absorb the sauce. Dried pastas are a good fit for heavier sauces that may contain meat or other ingredients like a red sauce with meatballs.
When cooking pasta as the main dish, you will need to consider how much to cook. As a general guideline you will want to cook about 4 – 5 ounces of pasta per person. That means that a family of four will need to cook about a pound (16 ounces) or a little more depending on your appetites. Always bring the water you are using to a boil in a pan large enough for the pasta to expand. Once your water is boiling, add plenty of salt.
Cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling water that has been salted. You can add a couple of drops of olive oil to keep the pasta from sticking if you like. Stir the pasta 2 or 3 times as it cooks. Don’t over cook because you want your pasta to be al dente which is defined as firm to the tooth. As you drain your cooked pasta leave just a bit of water in the pan or add some butter right away to keep it for clumping and sticking. You can plate your pasta and pour the sauce over it or put the pasta directly into the sauce and stir to coat cooking just a minute or two longer. From there you can put it onto a platter and garnish.
The fun thing about pasta is that there are so many interesting shapes you can buy it in. Almost everyone is familiar with Spaghetti and Linguine, but there are also bow tie, or Penne or Rigatoni just for starts. Change them up to keep your dinners interesting!
You can create a multitude of pasta sauces starting with a basic Marinara and adding meat, pepperoni, mushrooms, or olives. Add cup of vodka and you have a vodka sauce. Cream can be added for creamy tomato sauce. Use Pesto sauce for a pasta salad and add peas, grape tomatoes, and shaved Parmesan. Opt for rich and creamy sauces like Alfredo and add shrimp, scallops or chicken. A simple butter, garlic, parsley, lemon and caper sauce will do nicely with Capellini, and it’s ready in 15 minutes.
And no matter what you select a little fresh grated Parmesan or Romano cheese is always a great finishing touch. Since pasta dinners are usually quite economical, be sure to include them as a staple in your family dinner repertoire.
Learn how to cook healthy recipes at home. Stop by Lisa Andrews site where you can find fun and easy tailgating recipes and much more.
categories: italian cooking,easy recipes,red sauce,white sauce
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