Pasta Basics

So I thought I'd start a section on some basic HOW TO's. I know I can't really be proud of my timing, given that I have already posted so many recipes and I am now going back to basics, buuuuuutttt, why not. Starting today, I'm gonna put a few posts of ' How to' for some basic cooking techniques and skills, simplified versions of course, tried and tested and the way I go about these basics. So my how to's are not what you'll be taught at cookery school , but the kind that'll work for you every single time. Also, many of you might be familiar with these techniques already, but there are just as many beginners among my readers and I thought I'd could help them out with this. I've been there, done that, when I started out, looking for blogs that could tell me the easiest way to get a cooking technique right, or the simplest way to make a complex dish. Is there some basic cooking technique you'd like me to post about, let me know. I love to hear from you, so leave your comments, send me pictures of dishes you try and drop in a line or two with your feedback about a recipe you liked or tried from here...


So the first in my section of basics, is on Pasta : Types, how to boil and basic sauces.

A dish with pasta is actually very easy to make. Once you know how to boil pasta, the basic sauces and method of cooking a pasta dish, you'll  see how you can make a gazillion dishes with it. All kinds, with sauce, baked or a stir fry. Pasta can be of two types: Fresh and Dried. Generally, what we use is dried pasta. It is much easier and quicker to make a dish using dried pasta, but making fresh fresh pasta isn't that hard. If you'd  like to give it a try, check this recipe that I posted a while back.

Some of the brands that are available around here in Bangalore for pasta are Del Monte, Barilla, San Remo, Agnessi. I find these familiar and have used each of these at some point of time. Pasta comes in different shapes and sizes and while it's difficult to be familiar with all, here are some of the popular ones.
Am gonna use images from wikipedia here for the different types of pasta.

Macaroni is perhaps the most common one. It was the only one I knew as a kid. I remember having them with loads of sausages and a sauce mum made using ketchup.

Then there's penne, which are sort of tubes with ridges. These are nice to use in salads and also when you're using a sauce, the hollow center is perfect to hold the sauce.

Fusilli is also equally popular, little spiral shaped bits of paste, and they work great in salads and soups. They also come in different colours like green and orange.



























And yes, you can't miss Spaghetti : It looks like noodles and goes best with tomato based sauce and Spaghetti Bolognese is perhaps the most popular dish with Spaghetti

Also quite interesting and popular is the Farfelle pasta, which is also known as the bow-tie pasta, simply because it looks like one. My nephews goes ga ga over these and calls them butterflies... These are great for main course dishes and I enjoy using them in salads too.

The last one on my list is Lasagne, which usually is flat sheets of pasta. It's commonly served with layers of cheese, sauce and vegetables or meat.


















So we move on to how to boil pasta:

Most pastas come with cooking instructions on the cover, as the cooking time varies on the size and shape of the pasta. However, mostly you can follow the method given here.

Start with boiling lots of water in a vessel. Make sure to add enough salt to this water, as the pasta cannot be salted later. While some methods instruct you to add oil, I don't add oil at this stage, as I feel the oil doesn't let the flavours of the sauce coat the pasta too well. . So all you need to do is bring lots of salted water to a boil in a large pot. Add plenty of water, so that the pasta doesn't stick while boiling. When the water has boiled, add the pasta. If you are not too sure about quantities, you can go with 100 gms of pasta per person. That's what  I learnt from Donna Hay's show. Anyway, let the pasta cook, this can take about 8-10 mins or even more, depending on the type of pasta. Stir the pasta a bit to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom.

 The pasta needs to be cooked till it is AL DENTE, that is it should cook all the way through, but should still be firm to bite. To check if you're pasta is cooked properly, take out a piece of pasta and taste it, if it's still hard, it needs to cook a little more, if it's cooked just right, that is firm, but cooked thru , it is done.Take it off the heat and put all the pasta in a strainer or colander and then run it under cold water. This is to stop the cooking process and not let it get soggy.

 Let it sit in the colander over a vessel, to let the water drain.  Shake off the excess water and then add it your sauce.

There are loads of sauces, you can make to go along with your pasta. White sauce, spinach, bolognese, alfredo, tomato, pesto, are some. I'm gonna put 4 of these in a following post ; White sauce (Bechamel sauce), Tomato sauce, Spinach sauce and pesto . Till then, you could try some of these recipes..Linguine with cream cheese,  Pasta florentine, Fish and pasta bake , Veg pasta bake.