Granted that this is a lot more nuanced than what you posted but cooking Pasta directly in the Sauce has been around for a while (60’s±) even in Italy Spaghetti all’Assassina
And in Spain Fideuà Paella with Pasta instead of Rice
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Yes, I know the method’s nothing new. But I was not expecting it to be this good, in addition to it being an amazingly easy dump dish. You clean one pot, s’all.
What’s been popularized recently is simmer/boiling the pasta in water separately, but in a shallow pan. That works, but it’s still the conventional two-step method–you don’t have to measure water, but you do have to strain and stop the cook far enough in advance that it will ultimately finish to liking after step two.
This method requires adding the right volume of water at the start, but as soon as the pasta is the right texture, you’re DONE.
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Some years ago, one of the big spaghetti sauce manufacturers introduced a “dry pasta ready” jarred sauce. It was shortlived, consumers having realized they were paying the same price for watered-down sauce as for full strength.
I often dilute sauce a bit and cook the pasta in it, if only cooking one or two portions. Also use the steeping or presoak methods for a full pound of dry pasta. Anything BUT the wasteful, time-consuming vat of boiling water. A lot of what is touted as tradition is nothing more than ignorance.
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This is pure gold- thanks for posting it! I’m having to report a hacked debit card today to folks that I can’t understand very well, so I needed the laugh.
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Cooking pasta by the low-water method as described here has been my go-to for the past several years. I find it quick and easy, and the options for concocting a fast sauce in the pan are limited only by whatever ingredients I have on hand.
Though it’s true that in addition to having to wash a sauté pan, there’s a colander to wash after straining the pasta.
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I’m kind of surprised you tried it. I’d look down my nose at that recipe and think: “Meh, maybe not.” Cool it turned out though.
Funny how orthodoxy fluxes— cooking pasta in tomato sauce pre-dates the unification of Italy
In Guiliano bugiali’s classical techniques of Italian cooking, he says that the earliest wedding of tomatoes and pasta he’s encountered is in an 1841 cookbook. The technique for “Macccheroni alla napoletana”? Bake dry pasta in between layers of tomatoes.
I tried his recipe 20 years ago and found the results gummy— in retrospect, I probably overcooked it relative to modern tastes and/or was using cheap pasta. He also commented on the gummy consistency and said he found a modern adaptation in small villages near Naples—- they oiled up dry pasta before stuffing it into whole tomatoes that get baked.
[Ed. by 1891, a similarly named dish, #86 here in Artusi’s book cooks the pasta and sauce separately)
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1841 isn’t that long ago. That book may be the earliest mention of tomatoes with pasta, but tomatoes got to Itally in the mid-16th Century, where pasta had been patiently been waiting since Etruscan times.
Does anyone seriously think the two were not cooked and eaten together until the mid-19th Century?
I probably wouldn’t have tried it, were it not for some clever lobbying by Wahine.
Here’s something to ponder. Pasta boiled in water takes no real flavor therefrom. The flavors are imparted mostly by dressings and condiments. The length of time the water-boiled paste is further cooked with flavorful ingredients is relatively short. Isn’t it reasonable to posit that the no-boil method actually flavors the pasta more?
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Probably the same people that think pizza Margherita was the first time tomato touched pizza , or that avocado toast was invented in the 2010s
True, but that doesn’t mean boiled pasta has no flavor. Pasta, fresh or dried, will taste of the flour it’s made from. Will that be overwhelmed by a spicy tomato sauce? Probably. But not necessarily.
As a point of interest, I have mostly.switched from.the ‘deep.pot of water’ cooking method to the ‘shallow saute pan of water’, esp for one or two.portions. Less time to boil and starchier water of I’m doing a butter or oil based sauce.
I still use a deeper pot for things like cascatelli, ziti, and other ‘chunky’ as opposed to ‘long’’ pastas.
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Yes, true, regardless of being cooked in or out of the sauce. Can you think of a reason there would be more floury taste one way or the other? Frankly, I consider floury taste in most things, e.g., roux, to be a flaw.
Now starch I can better understand. Big pot = dilute. Small pot= more concentrated. No boil = max starch. But I’m not sure what starch tastes like.
Cooked flour (regardless of the type, whole, 00, pastry, etc.) does not taste floury.
It’s very toothsome, redolent of fresh toast.
OK, sure. I was replying to the implication that somehow water-boiled pasta in a sauced dish tastes more “of the flour…”, i.e., the no-boiled version tastes less “of the flour”. I don’t think that’s the case.
I think the the taste of a Flour refers to the actual taste of the grain it is milled from rather than tasting “floury” usually meaning uncooked Flour.
I make Pasta almost daily at Work, We use 100% Durham and Eggs only. The Pasta has a its own flavor for sure and of course a great Texture. So I think the Flavor of any given Pasta is dependent on the quality, freshness and Flavor of the Grain the Flour is milled from.
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I thought more of this one.
it’s one of my favorite SE recipes, but I must admit I’ve never made it stovetop but have used the baked option each time (and there have been many), so I’ve never had the issues some people report.
I’ve made that ziti recipe a couple of times, but did think the end result was a bit gummy when made with soaked pasta, so after that I boiled it separately for a bit.
But I think Daniel Gritzer’s baked ziti with the Parmesan cream is ultimately better.
I do like certain recipes that involve cooking the pasta in the sauce. It’s a matter of having enough water to hydrate the pasta, as thick liquid like tomato sauce can’t penetrate the same way. This applies to rice, too— if the liquid is too viscous the rice has trouble cooking.
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Good point. A local pasta maker near me makes dried pasta from what she considers to be the best durum wheat and sirvinta wheat (a heritage variety) flours, and it tastes different from the Italian pasta with semolina I usually buy. Each is tasty in its own way.
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True thet. I salt the hell otta my pasta water. But, that’s salt. Now you’re doing, over the course of the cook, what you hope for in the minutes after draining pasta and saucing it. I better garlic im parts a ton, even basil. Wahine knows what he’s talking about.
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