| Chef Tracy Griffith's Pasta Tips |
From "DIY Cooking"
episode COK-115F |
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- Pasta has been around for a very long time. It's traditionally made from durum wheat flour -- a hard flour that is ground into semolina and, being very high in gluten, holds its shape and makes for a hearty pasta with a springy texture.
- You can purchase pasta dry or fresh. Dry pasta is firmer and better suited to heavier sauces such as spaghetti and meatballs or cream sauces. A good example of a hard pasta is rotelli (figure A), which is a favorite of children. Fresh pasta, which is lighter in texture and flavor, is good with butter or vegetable sauces. Pasta comes in a variety of flavors, as well: sun-dried tomato, roasted garlic, cheese, etc.
- Cooking pasta is a two-part process -- and overcooking is the biggest mistake most cooks make. You need a large pot so the pasta will have room to move and not stick together. Bring water to a rolling boil and add salt, preferably sea salt (figure B). Add a little olive oil to keep the water from boiling over and the pasta from sticking. Add pasta to the boiling water, pushing it down so it's completely covered. The best way to check for doneness is to taste the pasta itself, so start checking hard pasta after approximately 3 minutes (you need to get it to the al dente stage, which means to the tooth, or springy); start testing fresh pasta after 30 seconds.
- Do not rinse pasta once it has cooked -- rinsing ruins both the taste and the texture. Strain the pasta (figure C) and transfer immediately to a plate (or coat it with a little olive oil, store in a plastic container and keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 days). Just reheat it in whatever sauce you are making.
- There are different types of filled pastas. Ravioli (figure D) is the square pasta that is stuffed and the edges pinched together. Manicotti is a tube that is easily stuffed (figure E) with your favorite filling. You can also choose from a variety of stuffed shell shapes. Also, some pastas, such as tortellini (figure F) are rolled and pinched.
- Chef Tracy shares a quick idea for spinach ricotta stuffing. Parboil pasta shells of your choice until they are half cooked; set them aside. Saute minced garlic and chopped onion in olive oil for approximately 2 minutes. Beat a raw egg and add to ricotta cheese. Add sea salt, ground white pepper and lemon zest to taste and fold together gently. Add fresh chopped spinach to the sauteed onions and garlic and allow to wilt. Add the spinach mixture to the ricotta mixture and fold together. Fill the shells with the mixture and place in a baking dish. Top with marinara sauce, cover with aluminum foil and bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Garnish with grated cheese and chopped parsley (figure G).
Quick Tip: To make a clean break with longer pastas, try rolling pasta in a dishtowel. Grasping the ends of the towel, break the pasta over the corner of the counter. Simply release the towel over the pot of water, allowing the pasta to slide into the pot.
- The grooves and shapes of pasta help it hold the sauce. For example, rigatoni (figure H) is a hollow tube with grooves on the outside. Spaghetti is long and smooth and "wraps around" the sauce. Cavatappi is a hollow, curly pasta with double sauce-holding power. The fun part is matching a pasta with the sauce.
- To use a basic pesto sauce, simply fold it into the pasta. For spaghetti with marinara sauce, just place the spaghetti into the sauce on the stove and stir to combine. For fettuccini Alfredo, fold the sauce into the fettuccini in a bowl. To serve, you can blend the sauce with the pasta or place it over the pasta on a plate.
- The most traditional sauce for pasta is marinara sauce (figure I). Chef Tracy shares a recipe for marinara. Pour 3 tablespoons of olive oil into a saute pan with 2 cloves of minced garlic. Stir in 4 medium-ripe tomatoes. Add 1 teaspoon sugar; 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley; 1/4 cup fresh chopped basil; fresh black pepper, sea salt, fresh chopped oregano and fresh chopped thyme to taste; and 1 bay leaf. (You can also use dried herbs in place of fresh herbs.) Simmer for approximately 30 minutes.
Website resources for Pasta: Cavatelli al Sugo di Pollo from Food TV.com Squash Bottom Tortelli from Food TV.com Spinach and Cheese Stuffed with Spicy Tomato Sauce from Food TV.com Quick Marinara Sauce from Food TV.com Fettucini Alfredo from Food TV.com We at DIY believe all of the recipes from DIY Cooking are accurate and reliable, but since we have not tested them personally, we can claim no responsibility if the desired results are not achieved.
RESOURCES :
New World Pasta Consumer Relations Hotline
Tips and information on cooking and storing pasta, along with other tidbits about pasta.
Toll-free: 800-468-1714
Web site: www.nwpasta.com
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To order this title from Amazon, click here.
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