Pasta: The Theory and Basics

A classy guy needs to know his way around the kitchen. I'm not talking about knowing where the knives and plates go; I'm talking about moving through the kitchen like Picasso smeared paint. I don't mean to go overboard with the hyperbole, but it's very important that this point is clear. A guy needs to be an artist in the kitchen. This is not to say that a guy needs to be a good cook any more than it implies that an artist needs to be a good painter. The technique is important, but more importantly it must be understood that cooking is an art and when a man is in the kitchen, he is an artist. You do not just prepare food in the kitchen; You are a chef, you make art! The best place to begin, I believe, is in Italy. Italian cooking in its purest forms is a triumph of freshness and simplicity. And if Italian cooking is the goal, there are few better places to begin than pasta.

First we'll discuss how to properly cook dried pasta and a few sauces. Many chefs advocate using dried pasta, which will allow to you concentrate more on the sauces. When you are proficent with the dried pastas and a few sauces, it is time to advance to the mother of cool things for a guy to do... make fresh pasta.

But first, a little information about the dried stuff. Pasta comes in over 400 shapes and sizes, from many different regions of Italy, and designated for different sauces. In general, a good rule is to match thick pastas with thick sauces, light and thin pastas go with light and thin sauces, and chunkier pastas go with chunkier sauces. Macoroni and cheese is a favorite; spaghetti and cheese would be disgusting.

Some of these types of pasta have lovely names and origins such as vermicelli (meaning little worms), strozzapreti (meaning preist strangler) and tortelli (rumored to be shaped in the image of the Godess Venus' bellybutton by an infatuated peeping innkeeper in ancient Bologna). Here are a few of the more common types to be aware of.

• Cappelli d'Angelo--(Angel Hair) The thinnest version of spaghetti.
• Capplellini-- (Little Hairs) The second thinnest version of spaghetti.
• Cavatappi--(Corkscrews) Spiraled macoroni.
• Conchiglie--(Shells) Shell shapes.
• Farfalle--(Butterflies) Called bowties in English.
• Fettucine--(Little Ribbons) Wide, thin, flat noodles.
• Linguini--(Little Tongues) Flat spaghetti.
• Maccheroni--(Macoroni) Hollow and usually elbow shaped.
• Maltagliati--(Badly Cut) Like tagliatelli, but hapharzardly cut. Good for homemade pasta.
• Penne-- (Pens) Hollow noodles with fountain pen shaped tips.
• Ravioli-- (no translation) Squares stuffed with filling and topped with sauce.
• Rigatoni-- (Little ridges) Like penne but shorter and bigger in diameter with flat ends.
• Rottini/Fusilli-- (Spirals) Like corkscrews but not hollow.
• Spaghetti-- (Little Twines) Needs no introduction.
• Spaghettini-- (Little Little Twines) Thinner than spaghetti.
• Tagliatelli-- (Little Cuts) Flat noodles, but less wide than fettucine.
• Vermicelli-- (Little worms) Thinner than spaghettini.

Cooking pasta perfectly requires a bit of knowledge that most people don't have. Be sure to educate those around you as you prepare the perfect pasta. The food will taste better to them because they will understand that you are a person that takes pasta seriously. They will be inspired. Soon you will be teaching classes. Cooking is 50 percent performance, and the Italians understand this. Cook pasta like Hitchcock directed. Take your time. Build suspense. Hitchcock once said that, "there is no terror in a bang, only in the anticipation of it."

Ultimately pasta dishes are about sauces, not about noodles. The sauce is the real dish. The pasta itself should play a supporting rule. Don't serve a plate of pasta with a scoop of sauce. Serve a scoop of pasta with a plate of sauce. Follow this advice, and you will be more traditional, and you will stay thin.

To make the best pasta, you will need a big pot that holds lots of water.

A normal sized box or bag of pasta should serve six people. Adjust accordingly. Cook the pasta in three quarts of water per pound. A dinner for two would be 1/3 of the package and one quart of water. Here is the recipe for sucess.

• Bring the correct amount of water to a boil in a large stock pot.


• After the water is boiling, add salt. (1 tablespoon salt for each quart of water. Kosher salt is best.)


• Add correct amount of pasta. Do not break long noodles.


• Let boil for a few minutes. Cooking time varies on many factors (heat, salt, humidity, altitude.)


• To test pasta for doneness remove one piece and let it cool (blow on it or run under cold water.)


• Do not throw this pasta at a wall! Taste it. When it is firm but no longer cruncy, it is done. This consistency is called, al dente (to the teeth) and perfection is close at hand. If the pasta is very soft, then it is over cooked and you should begin the process over.


• When the pasta is al dente, remove it from the heat immediately and strain, but do not overstrain. The water is full of starch and very rich in flavor. It will enhance your sauces.


• Toss the spaghetti immediately in a little extra virgin olive oil (I do this right in the collinder). This will prevent the noodles from sticking and clumping.


• Coat the pasta with the sauce immediately. Just after being strained, the pasta will absorb sauces perfectly. Wait too long, by even seconds, and the pasta will begin to be sticky.

You have now perfectly prepared a dried pasta that will be a perfect complement to those amazing sauces that you are about to learn to cook.