Cooking instructions typically recommend about 6 quarts of boiling water per pound of pasta; anything less than that and you run the risk of your pasta sticking together in a big clump. That was the accepted wisdom until Harold McGee wrote about his experiments with cooking pasta in smaller amounts of water. He found that a pound of pasta could be cooked in as little as 1.5 quarts of water, but the method was a little fussy, needing near-constant stirring to keep the noodles from sticking.
It was J. Kenji Lopez-Alt's write-up at Serious Eats that convinced me pasta cooks just as well in a small amount of simmering water, and has the added bonus of extra-starchy pasta water that is ideal for emulsifying pasta sauces. His method, which works for dry but not fresh pastas, only requires stirring during the first couple minutes of cooking, when the noodles initially release their starch. Because it's a lot faster to bring a smaller pot of water to a boil, and doesn't require as much heat to keep it at a simmer, this technique saves time and energy.
Curious? Skeptical? Take a look at the full post, which debunks some of the biggest myths about cooking pasta in a big pot of boiling water. Then try it for yourself!
Check it out: A New Way to Cook Pasta? at Serious Eats
Have you ever tried this method?
Related: Can I Reuse Pasta Water?
(Image: Emma Christensen)
Food & Drink - How To Information eHow.com Food & Drink: Don't let that next party be a flop. Be the envy of your friends thanks to eHow's entertaining secrets sure to make that next affair a success. Food is ... The Frugal Magic of the Five Ingredient Crock Pot Meal The ... We use our crock pot all the time. Rarely does a week go by when we dont use it at least twice. It enables us to simply put some ingredients in the crock pot in ... Sea Jenn Bake My first brush with homemade (as opposed to Kraft blue box) macaroni and cheese was in college. My house's kitchen staff made the most delicious macaroni and cheese ... Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com Preparing for 120,000-foot skydiveGuy prepares for 120,000-foot skydive Sweet Marijuana Recipes - How To Roll A Joint, how to roll, weed Method: 1. Pre-heat griddle or frying pan while making the pancake batter. Do this over medium high flame. 2. Put all of the dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix ... Crock Pot Meals for a month Under $75 If you have followed any of my posts from back-when you will know that I do not cook. I just dont. I dont have many recipe ideas, nor do I care if I eat ... Homemade Croutons, Shredded Chicken and Recipe for Red Sauce One of the things that I love about freezer cooking, or once-a-month cooking as it is often called, is that I can make a multitude of homemade convenience items that ... Give us this day our daily....food Okay, so I am not exactly trying out tons of new recipes and tweaking them at the moment. I am however loving the stuff I've found on pinterest lately. Slow Cooker Crock Pot Recent Articles. Crock Pot Recipes for Beef Dishes; Crock Pots: Cooking Without Looking; Variety with Tasty Slow Cooker Meals; Slow Cooker French Onion Soup Recipes Howdy...Well... the Winter Yuletide is almost here and my ... Howdy...Well... the Winter Yuletide is almost here and my remission continues....Its all good!
There was a time when a certain bunny-shaped pasta with instant cheese mix figured prominently in our weekly meal plan. Now we turn to a quick dinner solution that's just as easy and, dare we say, much tastier!
We originally got the idea for making macaroni and cheese in the microwave from Beth Sheresh in her book Picture Yourself Cooking With Your Kids. In the book, she includes a recipe for a full batch of mac n' cheese made entirely in the microwave and using only a handful of very basic ingredients.