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The right way to sauce pasta (2016)

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Re: The right way to sauce pasta (2016)

#61

Post by kqr »

babarock wrote: post #40
bradleyjg wrote: post #32

I like good food, so I’ve started to follow recipes on sites like this one. However the thing that no one talks about is that cooking “properly” takes a huge amount of time cumulatively for a single person or even a small nuclear family. A blogger will talk about a quick little dish. First of all it is going to take you longer because you haven’t spent the last decade chopping onions. Second, even as written this “qu…

You get better at it the more you do it, and naturally with experience you'll notice it takes less and less time. That being said, I agree with you, it does take a lot of time. To me, the switch occurred when I stopped considering this time "wasted" and instead consider it fulfilling. I actively look for the time I'll spend cooking each day, I believe it's a good use of my time and I don't try to rush through it.

> To me, the switch occurred when I stopped considering this time "wasted" and instead consider it fulfilling.

This is how it works for me also. We involved our children from a very early age, so they can also perform basic tasks like watch a pan or cut soft things into pieces (with only a little supervision), which frees up even more time.

Re: The right way to sauce pasta (2016)

#62

Post by kqr »

YeGoblynQueenne wrote: post #54
bradleyjg wrote: post #32

I like good food, so I’ve started to follow recipes on sites like this one. However the thing that no one talks about is that cooking “properly” takes a huge amount of time cumulatively for a single person or even a small nuclear family. A blogger will talk about a quick little dish. First of all it is going to take you longer because you haven’t spent the last decade chopping onions. Second, even as written this “qu…

>> So best case scenario net one hour a day every day to eat high quality home cooked meals. That’s 6% of your waking life that’s not available for work, exercise, dating, playing with your kids, calling your parents, reading a book, etc, etc, etc. For me cooking (generally, making stuff to eat) is a hobby. I don't have kids but that just makes it a little less enjoyable because I don't have a large family to share m…

> I don't have kids but that just makes it a little less enjoyable because I don't have a large family to share my cooking with.

If you're planning to have children at some point, you should know that some days they will do their utmost to ruin your cooking time and when you finally pull through anyway they will ask to eat something else. ;)

Re: The right way to sauce pasta (2016)

#63

Post by spiderxxxx »

eh, that dirties too many dishes. Get the pasta cooked in salted water, drain it, put the pot that you cooked the pasta in on the turned off stove, add a few spoons of sauce from the jar in the fridge. The sauce will warm up from the residual heat of the pan. Add in pasta and stir it around. Your pasta is cooled from the sauce and the sauce is warmed from the pasta. Serve. Works fine with pesto and tomato sauce.

Re: The right way to sauce pasta (2016)

#64

Post by TomK32 »

I'm German, what do I know about pasta, but reading that article and just a single step is dedicated to the pasta: What a disappointment. The sauce is where you create the taste, and you can be creative in that step. I prefer adding pasta water before adding the noodles, give it a minute and then add the noodles.

One Youtuber to recommend in all sorts of food exploration is Alex aka @FrenchGuyCooking. Be it making your own fresh noodles or dry noodle, discovering Umamni, sourdough bread or Ramen, he has made all the mistakes so you don't have to.

Re: The right way to sauce pasta (2016)

#66

Post by xattt »

throw_pm23 wrote: post #42
xattt wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have made this and a non-stick pan is essential. Otherwise, you have a very annoying mess to clean. The relevant Cook’s Illustrated/ATK recipe: https://www.americastestkitchen.com/cooksillustrated/article...

Unfortunately the materials coating the non-stick pans are well-established carcinogens. Cast iron stuff is a good alternative and needs only a bit more care.

I did buy a new Teflon pan for this “project”. It’s a calculated risk, like eating red meat cooked on a barbecue. That also is full of carcinogens, but can be enjoyed with moderation.

Re: The right way to sauce pasta (2016)

#67

Post by xattt »

throw_pm23 wrote: post #58
gomox wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't cook tomato sauces for any significant time in cast iron unless your intention is to remove all the seasoning of the pan. So for the proposed recipe, cast iron doesn't really cut it.

Yes, for that type of thing you can use stainless steel pans/pots.

My first take was stainless steel…

Re: The right way to sauce pasta (2016)

#68

Post by iopq »

bradleyjg wrote: post #32

I like good food, so I’ve started to follow recipes on sites like this one. However the thing that no one talks about is that cooking “properly” takes a huge amount of time cumulatively for a single person or even a small nuclear family. A blogger will talk about a quick little dish. First of all it is going to take you longer because you haven’t spent the last decade chopping onions. Second, even as written this “qu…

There's still cleanup for Uber eats, unless you want splatters and garbage everywhere. I find unwrapping stuff and setting on the table takes time too.

Looking for good restaurants also takes time, sometimes I start doing an order and find out the Italian restaurant doesn't have the pasta or sauce I want and have to restart my search.

Also, note that you shouldn't heat up ANY kind of plastic components in the microwave. They are not "microwave safe" since they release the plastics into the food anyway. If I have to transfer to another plate and heat it up, there goes the clean-up time argument, I have to wash that dish later

Re: The right way to sauce pasta (2016)

#69

Post by benterix »

Hikikomori wrote: post #36
benterix wrote: post #21

This is almost a religious matter among my Italian colleagues and I see a few blasphemies on this video already. The recipe I was taught on the hills of Tuscany 30 year ago is so perfect and simple I'll never prepare pasta in a different way. * First slice garlic and put it a pot together with excellent quality olive oil * Fry it until garlic becomes slightly yellow but nor brown, and in the meantime in a separate po…

What's your tomato sauce? I do something similar but add pepper flakes with the garlic, use canned tomatoes and finish with some butter.

Well, everybody around there bought the same thing, it was 100% tomatoes without any salt or basil etc. added in. The advantage of using it over fresh tomatoes is that where I live now the fresh ones tend to lose flavor in colder months.

Re: The right way to sauce pasta (2016)

#70

Post by benterix »

mariusor wrote: post #47
benterix wrote: post #21

This is almost a religious matter among my Italian colleagues and I see a few blasphemies on this video already. The recipe I was taught on the hills of Tuscany 30 year ago is so perfect and simple I'll never prepare pasta in a different way. * First slice garlic and put it a pot together with excellent quality olive oil * Fry it until garlic becomes slightly yellow but nor brown, and in the meantime in a separate po…

Cooking the garlic from the start makes it lose all its flavour, unless you use a tonne. Using tomato sauce is a very small convenience (maybe 40minutes worth, which mostly is waiting) vs making the sauce from scratch from fresh tomatoes. The main issue with making sauce from scratch is getting rid of the skins, and in order to do that you can blanch the tomatoes: get 1Kg of fresh tomatoes, score them in a cross from…

> Cooking the garlic from the start makes it lose all its flavour, unless you use a tonne.

Yes and no. It does lose its typical flavor but gets transformed and this new flavor is transferred onto other ingredients.

As for sauce vs tomatoes, you are probably right, but only when you have full flavor tomatoes available - and unfortunately where I live they are not that great in the winter.

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