To ask if you need superhuman powers to know how much pasta to cook

[FelicisWolf]

Seriously, I put in however much I think looks 'about right', and it's either enough to feed the 5000 or turns out to be a portion size akin to an overpriced Michelin restaurant who expects their diners to have stomachs the size of ants. How to know what the actual right amount is? It's just me and DH, but we sometimes entertain and sometimes want to make double quantities for lunch the next day. How do you super humans do it?!

I would never go to the effort to weigh it, I always thought it was a handful per person but I usually just tip a load in

I get it right every time by eye. But I am half Sicilian. It's a race memory thing.

Use tagliatelle. Comes in balls. Three balls does me.

Cool info. The hole in the pasta spoon is the amount of spaghetti for one.

I usually do an underfilled mug per person. It's rice I struggle with.

Portions ranging from minuscule to 3x that and then some
Honestly who can be bothered weighing pasta
We weigh 300g pasta for 5 of us. 3/4 of a mug full of rice for 5. Wow, what small portions I’d be eating biscuits for the rest of the night if I only had that much for tea.

SnuggyBuggy
Rice - 1 cup with 1.5 cups of water in the microwave (covered) for 12 minutes. Two decent sized portions or three smaller ones (these are my portion sizes and I’m definitely NOT someone that eats 40g of pasta)

I always get this and potatoes wrong. I always do too much 😂

DonnaDarko
Better too much than not enough I think. Anyway, it’s only pasta, it’s not like it’s expensive and is a good lunch the next day.

40g is what I give my (skinny) 3 year old. 100g for the adults.

Honestly who can be bothered weighing pasta

I know, it takes a whole ten seconds! Who can spare that? Jeez.

I honestly don't understand how you can eat much more than 40g and have always been amazed at the recommendations on the packets tbh. Ive got a BMI of 23 and I'll happily eat a bag of doughnuts (that's 5 of them) so it's not like I can't pig out with the best of them and nor will I wash down the plug hole

Well it depends what it's been served with surely. Pasta often makes the bulk of the meal, with sauce and possibly parmasan as the only additions, meat or fish being a flavouring rather than the main focus, so I would have thought you'd need at least 100 g to make anywhere near an actual meal?

HURRAH! The carb police have arrived.

😂 from me too.

75g per person for us, but I use a lot of veg in pasta dishes to make up for DH's avoidance of taking fruit with his lunches!
Sometimes I do just measure handfuls by eye, but any leftovers just go in a box for DH to take for his lunch the next day.

Agree that weighing pasta is hardly an onerous task. I'm a scientist and like measuring things and have digital scales so it's quick and easy.

Maybe the mug people are using those giant Sports Direct mugs, so it's not as parsimous as it sounds and the carb police are using an espresso cup.

I weigh it too, 75g of pasta or rice per adult and 50 for kids. I have electric scales and stick the pan on and weigh, its quick and easy.

Weighing pasta really isn't an effort, it takes seconds and means we have the right amount of pasta.

another pasta weigher here.
I hate leftovers.

Weigh it! I weigh rice too, as it is difficult to guess an adequate amount of that by eye. 60g of each per person is my measure. It looks meagre when weighed out but after cooking, is perfectly adequate. I have a flat electronic scales that “lives” in a press under the worktop. Then I just weigh the rice in the sieve/bowl combination I’m going to rinse/soak it in and I weigh the pasta in the colander I’m going to drain it in and it’s no hassle. It's automatic at this stage.

I have special pasta and rice measuring mugs given out free at my local recycling centre open day. Full mug of rice does 4 adults. Full mug of pasta is one adult.

Yanbu.

These work well to measure spaghetti.

I buy tagliatelle, t's already in portions, one per person for a small meal, 2 for hungrier people.

I do weigh it if needed, 100g per person. I always buy 500g packs and there are 5 of us so no weighing is required.