Infusing flavour in Pasta

Lifestyle Parenting, Household Affairs and Cuisine corner
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Which sauces are more flavoursome then the others?

Any particular techniques you use to ensure that the pasta becomes rich in flavour?

How long do you boil the pasta? really soft or slightly soft?

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Infusing flavour in Pasta

Pasta should always be boiled to “al dente”, meaning it still has some bite to it. The reason for that is in authentic Italian cooking, they finish off the pasta by adding it to the pan the sauce is cooking in and completely mix/coat the pasta in, so it continues to cook together.

When you just dump sauce on to the boiled pasta, the flavors don’t meld properly.

I don’t like heavy sauces. My favorite way to make pasta is by using less ingredients, but of good quality…Instead of weighing it down with lots of cream and butter to thicken it up, I reserve a little of the boiling water (since the starch of the pasta has come off in it) and add a little of that to my “sauce base” to thicken.

My favorite recipe is super quick:in a little olive oil I add a teeny pat of butter and sauté sliced red onion, boneless chicken, frozen peas, minced garlic, halved cherry tomatoes salt & generous amount of fresh cracked black pepper.I add the drained pasta (either linguini, penne or bow tie) and a tiny bit of the boiling water, and thrown in some grated really good quality parmesano reggiano cheese. After it’s all coated well I toss in baby spinach and let it wilt in. It’s super light, very tasty and a great way to get my kids to eat veggies.

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Re: Infusing flavour in Pasta

Here’s an example of a recipe I make for my kids, but I replace the pancetta with tiny ground chicken meatballs that I bake in the oven..they love this

Giada De Laurentiis - Wagon Wheel Pasta with Pancetta and Peas

[TABLE=“class: rgMasterTable, width: 517”]
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Wagon Wheel Pasta with Pancetta and Peas

1 pound wagon wheel-shaped pasta (rotelle)

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus ¼ cup

8 ounces pancetta, finely diced

1 large or 2 small shallots, chopped

½ cup low-sodium chicken broth

1 ½ cups (5 ounces) sugar snap peas, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 ½ cups (9 ounces) shelled edamame peas

1 cup frozen petite peas, thawed

1 cup finely grated Parmesan

1 teaspoon kosher salt

¼ cup chopped fresh mint leaves

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instructions[TABLE=“class: rgMasterTable, width: 517”]
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Wagon Wheel Pasta with Pancetta and Peas
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and reserve 1 cup of the pasta water.

In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. Add the pancetta and cook, stirring frequently, until golden and crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the pancetta and drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Add the shallots to the pan and cook until soft, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the broth and scrape up the brown bits that cling to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Stir in the snap peas and simmer until tender, about 2 minutes. Add the pasta, cooked pancetta, edamame peas, petite peas, Parmesan, the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil, salt, and mint leaves. Toss until coated, adding the reserved pasta water, 1 tablespoon at a time, to loosen the sauce. Transfer to a large bowl and serve.

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Re: Infusing flavour in Pasta

Scott Conant is my favorite Italian Chef. I use a lot of his recipes for pasta. This one is super easy and really good.

Making Scarpetta’s Tomato-Basil Spaghetti with Scott Conant | Serious Eats : New York

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Re: Infusing flavour in Pasta

^ And he’s sooo good looking too :blush:

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Re: Infusing flavour in Pasta

that he is :faizy:

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Re: Infusing flavour in Pasta

Thanks Khatti, will read up these recipes and try out the tips you suggested .. Cheers again mate

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Ditto what Khatti said! I make almost the exact same recipe…add in some baby spinach for extra goodness and it’s delish. And i also hate heavy cream/cheese sauces…it’s fine once in a while but olive oil/tomato based sauces are so good! Whenever i watch YouTube chefs or even TV desi chefs…they always wash the pasta…it makes no sense. =/ Or draining the pasta completely and setting it aside…it gets cold and gross! Whenever i cook pasta dishes i cook the pasta the last 10-11 mins of when the sauce/other ingredients will finish cooking. This way both sauce and pasta finish at the same time and the pasta is perfectly cooked.

Also high quality ingredients make a load of difference. Use less ingredients but of high quality and the taste is much much better!