Perfect Pasta Tips and a Gourmet Product Give Away

If you're a big fan of alfredo, add some cream cheese (we use full bore or neufchatel...I can't speak to fat free) to the sauce. It adds to thickness and yumminess... REALLY good flavor.

Keep it simple... nothing enhances the flavor of good pasta like a pat of butter (or some quality olive oil) and a few grinds of fresh black pepper.

Pre-cooked roasted Chicken from your favorite store (I hit Sam's on the way home). Shred both white & dark meat - roughly chopped
Spicy V-8
1/2 Can of Chicken broth
Large can of san marzano tomatoes - roughly chopped w/ juice
large onion (roughly chopped)
1 stalk of celery (roughly chopped)
1 carrot (graded)
2 tablespoons semi-sweet chocolate bits
Italian spice blend (or whatever in your pantry, e.g., dried rosemary, oregano, thyme, basil, etc. - about 1/4 teaspoon each)
Bay leaf
Couple cloves of garlic (minced)
Salt & pepper - to taste
Dried Red pepper flakes
Extra Virgin Olive Oil - couple of tablespoons
Crystal, Tabasco or Texas Pete's (optional)

Saute garlic in hot Olive Oil for just a minute or so - don't let it brown. Add veggies & cook for a couple of minutes. Hit w/ salt & pepper, spices & bay leaf.
Add shredded chicken, tomatoes, Chicken broth, V-8 (a least a cup of so), splash of hot sauce (if using) & chocolate bits.

Cook over med high heat until sauce starts to thickens & all the chocolate has melted (15-30 minutes or so - longer if you've got the time. The V-8 really does a number on making a thick sauce). You may have to add some of your pasta's cooking water to thin it out a bit.

A couple of minutes before serving add the hot pepper flakes.

Serve over your favorite Garofalo's pasta.

Shave some Parmigiano-Reggiano on top. Enjoy.

I use a couple of cans of organic tomato paste, rinse each can out with water (once) and put that into the pan. A hearty splash of olive oil and then 2 big pinches of fleur de sel, a couple of grinds of pepper, and I toss in whichever fresh herbs from my garden look good (basil, sage, rosemary, thyme). Cook on very low heat for about an hour - yum yum yum!!!

It's about $2 and tastes a little different every time.

I'm not one who likes watery sauces, which is usually what I find happens when I make sauce from fresh tomatoes. To thicken sauce, I add in roasted, mashed eggplant and/or winter squash. Both add a completely different flavor dimension, plus you're adding more veggies to your meal. Also, if you're one of the people who feels the need to add sugar to your sauce, the roasted squash adds that little bit of sweetness.

All the above recipes look delicious. A couple of years ago I was cooking up a nice batch of marinara and having a Manhattin Cocktail while waiting for the sauce to finish. I'm an experimenter and the Vermouth was at hand so I said to myself "Why not". I had about a quart of sauce. I started cautiously with one capfull of Vermouth, tasted, then added two more. It added a hint of unique flavor (without sweetness) which my guests noticed, liked, but were not able to recognise as Vermouth.

Try it, I bet you will like it!

I always cook up a full box of pasta, but reserve a cup or two of the cooked pasta from that night's meal.

We don't notice that one (or two) cups are short of our 1 lb of pasta, but then the next night, I use that pasta reheated as a side dish, or throw it into a soup. Or even have it for breakfast the next morning!

Saves me having to boil water again to cook pasta.

My favorite summer sauce is the uncooked one!

Use fresh-picked tomates from your garden or the farmers' market, about 6 of them for a sauce for two. Wash and peel them, chopping them roughly, and saving all the juice and seeds. Grab a handful of fresh basil, oregano and chop up. Dice about 3 cloves of garlic. If you are growing all these items already, you only need to buy the pasta from Garofalo’s!

Add a teeny pinch of sugar. Mix all ingredients together and sprinkle liberally with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper. Mix in a dab of olive oil.
While the pasta is boiling, use sea salt. this is better than table salt and will enhance the flavor better.

When the pasta is done according to package directions, give the sauce one final mix and serve over hot al dente pasta! Add some shredded parmesean cheese. yum!

Buon appetito!

Just made a lovely semi-homemade sauce with 1 pouch of Knorr's Alfredo sauce, 1 cup of vanilla soy milk, and an 1/8 tsp. of nutmeg. It's delicious over just about anything, and you can toss in tons of veggies too.

If I'm making marinara sauce for dinner I'll make and extra batch or two at the same time and freeze the extra for next time. I usually either put .5-1 cup portions (for one or two servings) in ziplock baggies or a whole batch in a disposable gladware container if I know I'll need it for a larger meal. It doesn't take any extra time to make an extra batch and it's nice to pull homemade marinara out of the freezer and reheat it a for the great homemade taste without the time.

Honestly no pasta meal is complete without some yummy breadsticks or garlic bread.

My family's favorite is some fresh french bread from the store cut in half spread some butter over each, sprinkle a little bit of garlic powder bake until crispy and brown and when you take it out add some fresh (or dried) parsley.. the perfect compliment to any pasta dish! :)

I don't understand the appeal of the boxed dinners since this is so easy:

Quick Stovetop Mac & Real Cheese
Grate about 1/2 cup-1 c cheddar or other cheese while you bring water to a boil.

Then in a heavy saucepan start
2T flour
2T butter
cook over medium heat until it has bubbled for a minute or two. Throw the pasta in. Add to the flour/butter:
1/2 c - 1 1/2 c milk (depending on how much pasta you are cooking). Let cook gently for 3-5 minutes until it starts to thicken, then (either add frozen veg here (or chopped ham, or crumbled bacon, or whatever) and cook for a few minutes and then) turn off the heat and stir in the grated cheese. I like to add a tiny bit of cayenne for a little kick.
Take the pan off the heat and set aside. Drain the noodles and mix your sauce with the noodles, I usually use my saucepan because it is big.

I know the box mac n cheese is frighteningly cheap, but this is not expensive, tastes tons better, and doesn't have all those weird ingredients. I can do this in the same time it takes to do the box meal and know my kid is getting a reasonably balanced meal that she will eat.

I don't expect a second chance at the prize for this, I just can't help but share. This tip is for gardeners, or anyone with an overabundance of tomatoes, and for anyone interested in reducing their carbon footprint. It's a solar-cooked pasta sauce.

On a sunny day in the morning, roughly cut up several large tomatoes over a bowl large enough to serve your pasta from. Let the juice fall in the bowl as you cut, and put the chunks in too. Add some chopped garlic, some kosher salt, and some ground pepper. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and stick it outside where it will get as many hours of full sunlight as possible. At dinner time, cook your pasta, drain it and then toss it with the sun-stewed tomatoes. Add a fresh herb and some good quality extra virgin olive oil. If you want, add some good aged and grated cheese.

It's a super easy dinner and very tasty!

We have been making this pasta dish since our Sebastapol tomato started producing a few weeks ago. Though any kind of tomato would do, I prefer cherry tomatoes. Its basically what you would make bruschetta with but pasta instead.

Choose a pasta (I like capellini) and cook till al dente.
In the meantime cut the cherry tomatoes in half (how many depends on how much pasta and how much you like tomatoe) and put in your pasta bowl.
Add chopped fresh herbs (I like oregano and basil but have also used thyme and parsley)
Add either fresh mozzarella cubed OR crumbled fresh goat cheese. Again, amounts depend on your preference.
Drain pasta, add to bowl and toss gently. Season to taste with salt and pepper. You can also add red pepper flakes, or garlic or other veg. Its really simple and really *really* tasty. Plus I usually have every item on hand.

To save money and make for an easy meal later, make a double match! The pasta will freeze and reheat wonderfully. :)

For extra tasty pasta, use stock (chicken, beef or vegetable depending on your sauce and taste preferences) instead of water.

When reheating pasta in the microwave, add a bit of water to it. This will help keep it from being too dry. Works with rice too.

Mama mia! This Italian girl loves pasta! Please, oh, please pick my comment.

Toss your pasta with a pat of butter and a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. The flavors blend to create a rich-tasting pasta. Remember, if you use salted butter, cut back the salt in the water.

Add beef broth to your sauce for more "body" or add chicken or vegetable broth to enhance the taste of the vegetables in the sauce.

Make a quick macaroni and cheese with a creative pasta shape, a beautiful cheese of your choice, and some cream or butter. Toss it all together with pepper to taste!

And finally, I use uncooked spaghetti to light deep candles, and to press into that "reset" hole on electronics.

There is nothing pasta cannot do.

Actually, using pasta to stretch other things. When I make sausage, peppers, and onions, a batch is good for 3 or 4 servings. When I brown these and then add them to a batch of tomato sauce, and serve over whole wheat pasta. It really helps stretch the more expensive sausage into 6 or 8 servings, and since I only get 3 or 4 bites in a bowl of pasta, it helps negate the unhealthy factor.

This works well when company pops in at dinner time. 2 chicken breasts are enough for me and hubby, but if I dice them up and add them to a white sauce, there's enough for everyone!

In my previous post I omitted the olive oil. Throw in a spoonful (or two depending on batch size) of olive oil with the tomato sauce before adding the spices. :)

This is my family's all-day, slow simmering gravy (meat sauce). It takes time, but very little effort. The best part is you can totally customize the basic sauce to feature whatever vegetables and meats you have on hand.

Ingredients

1 - Medium onion, chopped
5 - Cloves of garlic, minced
2 - 28oz cans “kitchen-ready” chopped tomatoes
1 – 12oz can tomato sauce
1 – 4oz can tomato paste
1 tbs olive oil
1 bay leaf
Dried oregano
Dried basil
Salt and pepper to taste
Italian sausage, meatballs, chicken, pork or whatever meat you have handy

Directions

1. Sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil.

2. Spoon the tomato paste into a large pot. (I sometimes coax it out with a bit of water if the paste is unmanageable.) Add a can of tomato sauce and bring to a boil on medium-high heat.

3. Add the sautéed garlic and onion to the mix, along with two cans of chopped tomatoes. Let the sauce return to a boil then turn the heat down to low. (You can cover the pot with a lid; just make sure no condensation falls into the sauce. You don’t want it to be watered down!)

4. Add the bay leaf as well as some oregano and basil to taste. Remember that the dried herbs will cook down quite a bit. I usually use 2 tablespoons of oregano and cover most of the surface with basil.

5. Prepare and pre-cook any meat you will use. I usually toss sausages in the microwave for 2 minutes on each side and bake the meatballs for 8-10 minutes. They don’t need to be completely done, as they’ll simmer in the sauce for a while.

6. Add the meat to the pot of sauce, along with a bit of the drippings from each. Too much will make the sauce oily, not enough will lose the great gravy taste.

7. Let simmer on low for 4-8 hours, the longer the better.

I learned the recipe from watching my family make it. I apologize for the “vague” directions. I hope you enjoy!

This my favorite way to sauce thin pasta:

Amounts are for 2 servings of pasta, just multiply if making more.

Saute over low heat 2-4 chopped garlic cloves in 1-2T of olive oil (careful not to burn the garlic), add a liberal sprinkling of chili flake (or fresh chopped chili if you've got it) and then toss it with the pasta, a small handful of chopped parsley (optional) and a handful of grated Parmesan. Yum!

I also have a tip. If you don't want to bother with saving the cooking liquid (which does really help with sauce thickening) then don't use a colander. Just pull the pasta out of the pot using tongs or a pasta server and enough of the liquid will adhere to the pasta. This is also helpful when you are at a bachelor friend's house making dinner and they don't own a colander.

I know you said not to use oil in the water but if you absolutely needed to you could to spray the water with a cooking spray before you put in the pasta. It will help keep the pasta separated. Very few calories also.

The best way to dress any pasta: melt butter--not to the frothing point--in a large skillet, throw in a handful of grated parmesan or other cheese, and dump in the drained pasta. Stir until the water is evaporated and the dairy coats the pasta. A little pepper, perhaps, and eat!

Repeat daily.

This isn't really a "cooking" tip, but if you have plain spaghetti leftover in your refrigerator, try some as a play material for the kids. They can make designs, drawings, or practice writing their letters. It feels great, and is really fun to work with. It does make a bit of a mes though, so make sure that they wear aprons and work on a washable surface.

Leftover Pasta Sauce:

1 small finely diced onion
Handful diced pancetta or bacon
1 few stems English spinach, well washed
1 handful leftover roast meat (chicken, pork etc), cut into small pieces
Leftover drippings from roast if you have them, or white wine/stock if you don't
Pasta for 2 people (of course!)
A few tablespoons Parmesan cheese (optional)

Sweat onion and bacon til softened and then add in enough of the drippings/wine/stock til you have some liquid "sauce". Toss in your roast meat and warm through, then toss your spinach in the pan, and wilt. Mix in cooked pasta.

The dripping/wine should make the sauce flavourful enough, but if you want a little more punch/sauce creamier, then after you throw in the pasta, take pan off heat and stir in some grated parmesan cheese.

Unusual things I do with pasta (non traditional but it tastes great trust me! I tend to replace rice with pasta a lot as it doesnt go soggy in my work lunchbox.)
- Pork mince and potato curry sauce
- Thai green curry sauce
- I roll up leftover pasta and sauce in puff pastry and bake. It means I can have pasta one handed without fork, knife or plate ;)

One indispensable tip when cooking pasta:

Have a large glass of cold water ready to pour in right at your pasta's final cooking time.

This stops the cooking process and allows you to accurately time your pasta without having to rush around with a pot of boiling water trying to achieve a great al dente.

Now, an easy recipe off the top of my head from the son of a (retired) professional chef:

Top of the Head Pasta Estate e Autunno
(heck pasta primavera is SPRING vegetables so it follows that spinach and carrots are Summer and Autumn)

1 lb of any good pasta, cooked al dente
1 med head of fresh garlic
extra virgin olive oil
light olive oil
salt
black pepper (fresh cracked)
1/2 cup julienned carrots (or just grated)
1/2 cup diced onions, any variety
lots of fresh spinach (a whole bag works well)
2 slices bacon
some shaved or grated hard Italian cheese if you wish
(Parmesa, Romano, Asiago, etc)

-cut the top off of the entire garlic head
-drizzle on 2 tbps extra virgin olive oil
-cook in microwave at 30 second intervals
until garlic is soft when poked with a utensil
and is starting to brown
-set aside to cool

-Set pasta water on to boil

-cook bacon in frying pan until crisp
-remove from pan and set aside on a towel or rack to cool and drain
-pour off 70-80% of the grease
-add 1 tbsp light olive oil, heat to medium heat
-add in onions and carrots
-cook over medium heat until carrots are mostly soft any onion is translucent
-add in spinach (feel free to pile it on, it'll cook down fast)
-cook over medium heat until all spinach is cooked down
-remove from heat

while the onions and spinach are cooking:
-roughly chop the bacon
-squeeze each clove of softened garlic out onto a plate
-mash garlic with a fork into fairly small bits

after spinach is cooked down:
-mix all ingredients except pasta together (add a little more extra virgin olive oil if you like)
-salt and black pepper to taste

-cook the pasta (anytime you feel comfy with during the above steps, or after if you wish)

-toss mixture with pasta.

a healthy dose of any fresh italian herbs (parsley and basil are my favorites)Italian cheese or even some paprika never hurts...

This recipe comes with no warranties as I am making this up as I go and haven't tried this exact recipe before. All measurements subject to interpretation; if cooking at 1 or more height measurement units over my current height above sea level please consult a Sherpa or other non-racially identified mountain guide.

#1 - Any pasta is good with fresh sage cooked in olive oil. (I didn't think I liked sage until I had it this way.)

If you're feeling fancy, add pinenuts, use butternut squash ravioli, and/or sliced pear.

#2 - Slice winter squash, and cook in a skillet with olive oil until soft.

Add one can diced tomatoes and whatever form of ginger you have on hand. (About 1/2 tsp dried, a few pieces candied or a tsp or two chopped fresh ginger.)

#3 - What to do with all that zucchini! Slice and saute 4-6 small or 2-3 medium zucchini in butter or olive oil.

A a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes.

Add any herbs you have on hand/want. I like just a bit of garlic and thyme.

#4 - Mix regular and whole wheat pasta 2:1, it doesn't change the taste much, gets you some whole grains, and stretches the more expensive whole wheat pasta.

I've found that the most important thing to ensure perfect pasta is to stir it for a full minute after putting it in the water, while the water is returning to a boil. This will keep it separated as it starts to cook, preventing any chewy clumps of stuck-together pasta. By the time the minute is up, it's softened up enough to not stick.

In response to the question what oil added to the water would do, if a small amount -- a teaspoon or two of olive oil -- is added to the boiling water before adding the pasta, it will lightly coat each piece as it is added, helping to keep it from sticking together as well as helping prevent the water from boiling over.

Now, for one of my favorite pasta recipes (please note that I recently posted this to the Trader Joe's fan board and just copied/pasted it here -- it's not meant to be an advertisement for TJ's; use whatever good quality ingredients you have available in your area):

Quick Anchovy Pasta

Even kids and anchovy haters have loved this savory pasta! I used all Trader Joe's ingredients in this.

1. Cook 1 package Spaghetti al dente, according to package directions. Drain well and set aside. (Reserve some of the cooking water if you wish to use it to thin the sauce.)

2. In same pan, pour 2 tblsp Olive Oil and place over low heat.

3. Add 10 cubes frozen Garlic (or 10 cloves finely-chopped garlic, or equivalent jarred garlic paste) to oil in pan; stir and heat well but do not brown. (If using fresh garlic, cook slowly, stirring frequently, until soft.)

4. Add 2 cans Trader Joe's Anchovies in Olive oil (including the oil) to pan and heat on low, stirring and mashing anchovies with the garlic.

5. When the mixture is fairly smooth, add drained spaghetti to pan and toss to warm spaghetti. The anchovies, oil and garlic should coat the spaghetti well; if it seems a bit dry, add a bit more olive oil, butter, or water reserved from cooking the pasta, as needed, and toss again.

6. Add fresh grated Parmesan Cheese to taste (I use about a quarter cup) and toss. At this point, you may sprinkle with a bit of fresh chopped parsley, if you wish.

That's it! Total time is about 15 minutes, start to finish.

Serve with some sliced tomatoes in vinaigrette and crusty Sourdough Bread.

NOTE: I highly recommend the use of good quality anchovies in this. The best anchovies are from Italy or Spain, and they should be in olive oil. Moroccan anchovies are more common and are often in mixed oils, and their quality can be very inconsistent. Better to look for the good ones, as this is basically a very inexpensive dish overall.

My favorite way to find out when spaghetti or angel hair pasta is done?

Take a piece out of the boiling water and throw it at the refrigerator. If it sticks and doesn't fall off, the noodles are done.

(unfortunately, my fiance-who is a cook-does not agree with this method...but I get such a kick out of throwing noodles at the fridge that I continue to do it anyway ;) )

Tip 1: Cover your pot with a lid to get the water to boil faster.

Tip 2: Throwing noodles at walls to see if they stick is not an accurate way of determining if the pasta is cooked. Instead, fish out a single piece of pasta and bite into it to see if it is at the desired level of doneness.

Tip 3: Leftover meat sauce can be put into hamburger buns and eaten as sloppy joes.

Pizza Mac and Cheese Recipe (kids LOVE this):
2 boxes of instant mac and cheese
2 cans of tomato sauce
A handful of grated Mozzarella cheese
1 lb cooked and crumbled ground beef

Cook the mac and cheese as per directions. Add the pasta sauce, meat, and Mozzarella (I also like to add some of my own seasonings--garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper) and stir.

Whenever possible, use fresh herbs. I can't afford to do this all the time, but I use what I can grow on my own as much as possible. I was amazed the first time I tried fresh herbs at how different the taste of the pasta sauce was overall.

I substitute ingredients a lot. For example, instead of making pesto with basil, I substitute the basil with cilantro. The cilantro pesto gives the pesto a new twist that friends and family love!

This is cheap for me because I have a garden.
It is easy because I have a food processor.

Place fresh parsley, fresh basil, crushed/smashed garlic, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, and olive oil in the food processor. Mix the resulting paste into hot pasta and serve.

Pretty straight-forward, with ingredients that can be found in the fridge/freezer. (at least MINE)

Ingredient list:
Pasta (angel hair works best here)

Olive oil
Minced Garlic (fresh or giant CostCo container)

1 lb peeled shrimp (usually I start with frozen, and thaw it
under cool running water. I then peel it, and devein if necess.)
Lemon juice (fresh, if possible)

Kosher salt/ground pepper to taste
Grated Parmesan Cheese

Magic Time:
Start water boiling to cook pasta as shown above (al-dente)

Meanwhile, in a skillet, start browning some minced garlic in olive oil over a medium heat. This has the advantage of both adding flavor and impressing any lady friends you have over with your cooking abilities.

Take the shrimp and brown in the skillet. When they've been cooking about a minute, go ahead and pour/squeeze the lemon juice over them, again impressing your guest. The key with shrimp is that when they have turned from translucent to white, they are done. SO: make sure you turn off the heat immediately BEFORE they are done, so they finish cooking in their residual heat. About 4-5 minutes is perfect.

Pour the shrimp/oil/juice over the pasta, and cheese to taste.

I'm all for the simple, so this is just pasta, olive oil, pesto, and a few basic spices. And a little grated cheese. Add a salad, if you like. :)

If your pesto is in the refrigerator, set it out on the counter so it can warm up and soften.

Cook the pasta, drain it, put it all back into the cooking pot, and place the the pot back on the burner. (No need to turn the heat back on; residual heat from the burner is all you need.)

Drizzle the pasta with olive oil and stir. Add a dash of salt, a generous grinding of fresh black pepper, more dried (flat Italian) parsley than you might think is reasonable, and your choice of either garlic powder (not garlic salt!) or garlic paste. Stir well. Add more of whatever you think you didn't add enough of the first time. :)

Ladle into individual serving bowls. Spoon pesto liberally over the pasta, and serve with grated Romano or parmesan cheese.

Mangia, mangia!