Pasta Problems

[ItalianinLondon]

AIBU to wonder...

Why people don't cook their pasta in its sauce for the last two minutes? (The starch of the pasta water gives the sauce a better texture and the pasta gets better flavoured by the sauce, if you do)

Why it is considered unacceptable (by my DH) to have multiple pastas open simultaneously? (You need different types for different dishes!)

And why anyone would object to the eating of pasta 5x per week? Especially when you can buy wholegrain, spelt, etc. etc. (Not that I do, if I'm honest.)

This is an important matter, worthy of considered debate, IMHO!

Cacio e pepe = cheese and pepper. Should be freshly ground black pepper and pecorino grated cheese, but it's easier to make with breadcrumbs addition.

In addicted to tomato and mascarpone sauce with a good amount of black pepper and huge amounts of pecorino. I thrown mushrooms, red peppers and baby leaf spinach in there and sometimes chilli. It's my favourite dish along with veggie lasagne.

especially if I can get wild garlic for garlic pesto

Ooh!
Where do you find wild garlic?

I'm hoping some supermarket or other but having a feeling you might go fashionably foraging.

(PS Thanks, Italian 🙂. I'll try that. Happy to cheat if I end up with something delicious. Besides, it's not a cheat; I choose to think of it as a hack. That makes it ok)

I discovered the pasta in sauce by accident and haven't looked back since!

Yes to having more than one packet of pasta opened - different taste's, textures, recipes duh to Mr ItalianinLondon

I don't think I could eat pasta 5 nights in a row I think I'd get bored. Plus I like to eat potato and rice dishes during the week.

I almost always cook in the sauce a bit unless the pasta or sauce is accidentally overdone. Currently I have 2 different shapes open but I just bought 2 more 😂 and I'd happily eat it 7x a week!

My favourite brand of pasta is Garofalo, they have a lovely wide range of shapes!

Now let's talk about people who cook pasta way past al dente. shakes head

@Triskaidekafalalalala oh no, don't get me started on soggy pasta!

Now let's talk about people who cook pasta way past al dente.

Ughh...

Back in the day I did some hotel work.
The "chef" (using the term loosely here) thought that pasta (spaghetti; it was always spaghetti back then) was a good thing to have on a buffet.
After being kept warm for ages you could serve it in scoops like mashed potato.

So disgusting.

Soggy pasta is the number one pasta crime :

*@Tartyflette

Have as many shapes/packets as you like but wholemeal pasta is a crime against the great cuisine of Italy.*

😂😂😂

One of my favourites:
www.nigella.com/recipes/spaghetti-with-marmite
I use mature cheddar rather than Parmesan.
Bloody lovely! 😋

My middle child would eat pasta every day, probably for every meal in fact. He also insists that different shapes taste differently and has a particular objection to fusilli. He also complains if I use linguini instead of spaghetti, but likes tagliatelle.
We went on holiday to Italy a couple of years ago, and whilst the rest of the family will reminisce about where we went and what we saw, he can remember what kind of pasta he ate on every day. If we ate in restaurants at lunchtime he did try to pick a different type to whatever he had in the hotel the night before, to add a bit of variety!
Frankly, I think it is all a bit odd, but I guess there are worse things for a teenage boy to be obsessed by. I am considering booking him on a pasta making experience for his next birthday. I saw one advertised recently but unfortunately can't remember where. Does anyone have any ideas?

I would add very small pasta to soup, but pasta needs a rolling boil in a big pan of salted water.

YANBU to have lots of pasta shapes...absolutely right that one size does not fit all. Although I love orecchiette with virtually everything .

I've also seen that advertised, but also cannot remember where, sorry!

Fusilli, I quite like in a lazy summer dish I make, kind of "fusilli antipasti". I cook the fusilli al dente and chop and mix antipasti stuff from jars (olives, bruschetta type toppings, whatever I have opened), plus maybe chopped cherry tomatoes and peppers or some sliced up soft cheese, plus baby spinach leaves or basil with a bit of lemon juice and salt and pepper, mix with fusilli in pan for a minute and... meal, 10 mins flat :)

Ooh I think it depends on the pasta and the sauce.

Definitely De Cecco but sadly we are stuck mostly using barilla in our house as they do the best/ most widely available gluten free spaghetti.

I dread to think how many different open bags of pasta I have in my secret stash for when I have the rare opportunity to eat proper pasta by myself. Everything from orzo to huge conchiglione.

Ooh!
Where do you find wild garlic?

In the woods or by the riverbanks around April/May time.

We like to keep the pasta and the sauce separate for some dishes, because we like different ratios of sauce to pasta.

But yes, it makes sense to have more than one pasta open at a time. If the pasta comes in a box (as opposed to a bag), it's not like it has an air-tight seal before opening, anyway, so it wouldn't go bad faster after being opened.

Dd2 objects to any kind of sauce on her pasta. She just has grated cheddar. It's sad.

Our main pasta-themed disagreement is how much water to use. I like to use more water than he does. I'll admit it takes a bit longer that way, even using our fastest-heating burner, but it feels wrong to use too little water (and everything I've ever read on the subject says to use lots).

I have found my people!

My boyfriend doesn't like pasta. I seriously considered LTB when he first told me. Now we just eat separately a lot!

Where do you find wild garlic?

As a pp said...it's everywhere during April and May in the UK. Just walk through some woodland or by a river and sniff the air!

I planted a few bulbs four years ago and now make pesto from what grows in the garden (it naturalizes very quickly) so I tend not to gather the wild stuff now so much.

It's glorious stuff...I love springtime foraging!

I always have wholemeal pasta at home, and always finish cooking the pasta and sauce together in the pan.
Not sure that I'd want to eat it 5 times a week though.

I've never cooked pasta in its sauce but currently I have 6 different pastas on the go (spaghetti, linguine, lasagne, macaroni, penne & orzo).

@LaMarschallen - the cacio e pepe in the Trullo cookbook is ace and easy to follow. Works every time for me and super delicious.

I love pasta, I would eat it most nights, as would ds1. Ds2 and dp hate the stuff. Drives me insane because it's easy and good for making all different dishes.

Any ideas for lovely non tomato based sauces that don’t contain dairy would be amazing please. I am struggling to adapt to allergy friendly cooking - tomato is of course fine and I have made a passable homemade pesto (with more pine nuts to compensate for the missing cheese) but I really miss carbonara...