How To’s
Image By David Dewitt
Easy Sauces
No sauce? No problem! Here a a few tips to make sure your covered….. or at least your pasta is.
Option 1: Olive Oil & Garlic
simply crush some fresh garlic add in olive oil to a pan and lightly simmer, keep heat on low since garlic can burn quickly! Season with salt and pepper
Toss in with your pasta and if handy add parmesan or better yet pecorino romano
Substitutions: If you are out of olive oil butter works just fine. No fresh garlic? We’re ok with you using garlic powder or garlic salt.. just this one time ;)
Option 2: Quick Cream Sauce
Follow steps for the olive oil and garlic sauce, while garlic simmers add heavy cream, salt, pepper and oregano. Let these beautiful ingredients marry together and create a wonderful fragrance.
Let sauce thicken some but keep heat on low to not curl the cream
Subtitutions: heavy cream can be substituted by half and half, milk, skim milk, nut milk (if you really have no other option), etc. The less cream in the milk the longer it may take to cook the water out, that being said nut milks may take the longest.
Real Italians never measure! Our best suggestion, taste as you go! Herbs and spices are everything. If sauce is too runny continue to let it cook down. If you need more sauce add more of your wet ingredients but remember to add more seasoning, again to your liking!
And as always have fun!
Cook Pasta
Bring water to a fierce boil.
Add your salt.
Gently drop pasta from a low point, to avoid splashing.
Immediately stir pasta to prevent it from sticking. Keep stirring to a minimum.
Keep water at a low boil, lower heat if it appears to almost boil over.
Watch your pasta, fresh pasta takes considerably less time to cook than dry.
Taste your pasta for readiness to determine whether to keep cooking or to remove it and add to your sauce.
Once ready strain or ladle out pasta into sauce (Do not rinse your pasta, this removes the necessary starch that helps your sauces stick to your pasta).
Things to know!
Pasta tends to take approx. 5 minutes to cook, although variables like, pot size to pasta amount may vary cooking time which is why we recommend tasting to find your preference. The less water and the more pasta equates to longer cooking times and vice versa. Other variables; elevation, gas vs electric stove
Do not thaw pasta before cooking.
Kitchen Essentials
Staples we suggest every pasta connoisseur to have!
salt & peper
oregano (dried)
olive oil
butter
fresh basil
fresh parsley
fresh garlic
pecorino romano (parmesan works too)
San Marzano peeled canned tomatoes (makes the best tomato sauce!)
crushed red pepper flakes
and a bottle of your favorite wine!