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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Wahine’s recipe calls for water in addition to the sauce: a jar of sauce plus half a jar of water.
For how much pasta?
One pound of pasta. We’ve only used spaghetti and bucatini. If you don’t want to stir much, break it in half, but it twines better on a fork if you leave it long.
The sauce/jar is 1 quart tomato du jour. She also mixed in about a pint of white sauce to turn it pink. Lots of other things to tart it up, like sausauge, mushrooms, garlic, onion, peppers. Knock yourself out.
This, again, for dinner tonight.
I bet it works, but it sounds like me making my first batch of spaghetti at age 13. I just don’t know if I could do it.
