How Much Water Does Pasta Really Need?

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SOME time ago, as I emptied a big pot of pasta water into the sink and waited for the fog to lift from my glasses, a simple question occurred to me. Why boil so much more water than pasta actually absorbs, only to pour it down the drain? Couldn’t we cook pasta just as well with much less water and energy? Another question quickly followed: if we could, what would the defenders of Italian tradition say?

After some experiments, I’ve found that we can indeed make pasta in just a few cups of water and save a good deal of energy. Not that much in your kitchen or mine — just the amount needed to keep a burner on high for a few more minutes. But Americans cook something like a billion pounds of pasta a year, so those minutes could add up.....

....There’s one other dividend to cooking pasta in minimal water that I hadn’t anticipated: the leftover pasta water. It’s thick, but you can still easily ladle it out by tilting the pan. And it’s very pleasant tasting: not too salty, lots of body, and lots of semolina flavor. Whole-wheat pasta water is surprisingly delicious.

Italian recipes often suggest adding pasta water to adjust the consistency of a sauce, but this thick water is almost a sauce in itself. When I anointed a batch of spaghetti with olive oil and then tossed it with a couple of ladles-full, the oil dispersed into tiny droplets in the liquid, and the oily coating became an especially creamy one.
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Here's the full, very interesting NYT article (by the curious cook): http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/25/dining/25curi.html?pagewanted=all

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Hat tip to no-hypocrisy's thread here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=236x67991

I followed one of the links (curious cook ~ http://www.curiouscook.com/cook/home.php ~ on docsconz blog and found this very interesting article. Thought I would share.

Peace, love, good food, and happy cooking my fellow foodies! And "thanks" to no-hypocrisy for sharing your food-loving friend's excellent blog site :hi:

M_Y_H

is that the final product is less gummy from the dissolved starch.

However consider that restaurants keep one huge pasta pot boiling all through the service, adding extra water when needed, but dissolving starch in it with each successive order.

In other words, I don't think the excuse of avoiding gumminess is a valid one.

Besides, starchy pasta water can be a great addition to simple garlic, olive oil, and whatever on the pasta.

I know it "should" be as salty as the sea which does enhance the pasta flavor IMO. But have you ever tried adding garlic cloves or lemon peel? It adds a subtle flavor.

When I visited Italy several years ago I had a pasta that was boiled in red wine. It was delicious and a very pretty color.

On edit: I couldn't resist googeling for a recipe:

http://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/27/dining/the-minimalist-pasta-in-wine-simply-splendid.html

...and that is adding dry pasta to an already simmering saucy dish. Maybe something that starts with a V-8 or tomato juice base. Let the pasta cook in the liquid of the dish. We do this with rice; why not with pasta?

is an old favorite in our house.

Great use for wine that's not going to get drunk, and the dish is marvelous...................

I cook the pasta to al dente and then put the pasta in a pot with some sauce in it. The pasta absorbs flavor. We like it better than putting the sauce in a bowl naked and covering it with sauce.

My mom always served spaghetti that way and I got away from it. Then I saw Mario Batali do that on his tv show and recalled how good mom's pasta meals tasted. It turned out that this was the difference.

on the table, and a bowl of sauce for topping?

First time I saw undressed spaghetti, I figured the chef had forgotten to finish it.....................

I never did get the notion of having pasta with just a little bit of sauce to wet it a little. As if all the flavor was in the pasta. NOT!

And I like generous amounts of grated cheese on my spaghetti. No more sprinkling. I just dip my fingers into the grated cheese like the tv chefs do it and come up with a bunch. So good.

We're having spaghetti and meatballs tomorrow night and I can hardly wait.

I have a big thing of garlic salt and put a lot in the water - certainly enough to make it "salty". Makes all the difference - it gets absorbed into the pasta.

Also, applying the sauce before the pasta cools. Once it cools, the molecules aren't as receptive to binding, and so sauce slithers off. Put the sauce on right away.

I have cooked pasta in the new microwave, which gave directions - and it turned out great. Same with rice. Who'd a thunk, lol.

I've cooked rice in the Microwave for years. Now I have a rice cooker though which I Love! I'm actually one of those people who "cooks" in the nuker all the time. I do salmon and poached chicken all the time. Whatever works!

I do sausage in the microwave, and bacon, and boneless chicken breasts, and fish. Frozen pierogies, which then get sauteed in butter.

Not rice, though, because it's easy enough on the stove.

I've got a great Cuisinart steamer that makes great vegetables and chicken and rice and is a real beauty of a gadget, but I never use it any more - the microwave does it all beautifully.



Whatever works, indeed. Let the purists do it their way - I'll stay with nuking ..................................

I wasn't using it anymore and if I really need to steam something I can do it in the basket that came with the rice cooker.

I love nuking the bacon. I have to admit it's not the same as cooking it on a rack in the oven which is my preferred method. But if you just want a couple of pieces the microwave can't be beat.

I like to chop up an apple...throw in a bit of cinnamon and nuke it for two minutes. I put that in my oatmeal most every morning.

but I always cooked dried pasta in far less water than is recommended. I do need to stir the pot more frequently but for most shapes the end product is just fine. The long thick noodles like fettucine do seem to need a bigger pot of water.

I hate wasting anything and live in a state with perpetual summer droughts I've learned to recycle the pasta water as weed killer on the driveway.

Thanx for posting it. :hi:

particularly with rice noodles.. but I don't see why it wouldn't work with pasta.