How to choose and measure dried pasta
Most of us started with pasta when we first learned to cook. Spaghetti with a jar of Ragu or whatnot. Just heat and serve. Or if we were feeling especially adventurous, we'd add some sauteed onions or mushrooms or ground beef. That was exactly me in my second year at college when I lived in my first apartment complete with its four-by-five foot kitchen.
More than a decade has passed, and while my pasta repertoire has stretched beyond spaghetti and jar sauce, I realized I still did not know exactly how to cook the perfect pasta al dente. This, of course, called for a blog post.
I found a plethora of pasta choosing, measuring, cooking, serving, and eating tips on What's Cooking America. Because there is just so much to know, I've decided to split up the pasta tips into two posts. Here is lesson one, Pasta 101. Get ready to know everything you need to know about pasta.
Choosing Pasta:
- The best dried pastas are made of 100% semolina ("durum-wheat semolina" or "semolia"). Durum wheat retain their shape and firmness when cooked so they won't be too mushy or sticky to toss with sauce. Of course, pastas not made of semolina can be used for casseroles as they won't need tossing.
- Have you ever wondered the difference between noodles and pasta? Noodles are typically made of eggs which give it a more vibrant color.
- Also, have you ever figured why there are so many different shaped pasta? The shape is matched according to the type of sauce. Flat pastas are best with thin sauces while others with nooks and crannies are good for picking up chunkier sauces or catching soups.
Measuring Pasta:
- Most dried pastas double in volume once cooked. A general rule is one pound of dried pasta will serve six as an appetizer or four as a main course.
- 4 oz. dry long pasta (spaghetti, angel hair, fettuccine, linguine> = 1 in. diameter bunchof uncooked pasta = 2 c. cooked pasta
- 4 oz. dry short pasta (elbow macaroni, penne, shells, rotini, wheels, ziti) = 1 c. uncooked pasta = 2.5 c. cooked pasta
Stay tuned for the second half (and arguably the more important half) of Pasta class.