5 Tips to Perfecting Pasta!- Rustica Pasta
- Rolovegan
- Sep 27, 2016
- 3 min read
Pasta is a staple for most of us. We all have our ways of making a sauce or adding secret ingredients to make the perfect pasta, but what if we told you that there are 5 simple tips and tricks that will make your pasta shine brighter than the next guys?
Cooking is a form of personal expression; that's why most people love to cook, but to break rules and be a game changer, you need to learn the rules before you can break them.
So! Drum roll please.... here are the tips and tricks to perfecting your pasta!
Tip #1- Quality Ingredients. Using quality ingredients speaks volumes when cooking. In this dish, we used a quality olive oil, dried mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes and fresh herbs. If you have a few extra dollars, spend it on ingredients, it truly makes a world of a difference.
Tip #2- Salty Pasta Water. I know we are all trying to watch our salt in take, but the cool thing about cooking pasta in salty water is osmosis. The pasta will only take what it needs. Make that water taste like the Mediterranean.
Tip #3- Al Dente Pasta. Once you have cooked your pasta to al dente (to the tooth), scoop your pasta into the sauce (don't strain) and add a few ladles of pasta water to the sauce. Finish cooking the pasta in the sauce and the starch from the pasta water will make your sauce stick to the noodle.
Tip #4- Add more FAT! Adding vegan cheese, vegan butter or olive oil; once your pasta is cooked to perfection, will make your sauce creamy, smooth and velvety.
Tip #5- Fishing Touches. Always add a finishing touch. Once your pasta and sauce are done and tasting tasty, finish/garnish your pasta with additional vegan cheese, olive oil or; for those who are not to keen on adding more fate, opt for herbs or cracked black pepper.
You will need:
1/2 cup Sun Dried Tomatoes *Not in oil, diced
20 gr. Dried Porcini Mushrooms, soaked and roughly chopped
20gr. Dried Chanterelle Mushrooms, soaked and roughly chopped
4 tbsp. Tomato Paste
2 cloves of Garlic, minced
4 cups Baby Spinach
4 1/2 L. Water
1/4 cup salt
500 gr Ziti Tagliati (tube pasta)... or any tube like pasta *Have fun with your pasta shapes
1 handful Flat Leaf Parsley, roughly chopped
Olive Oil
Rinse your mushrooms and soak in water for 20 minutes.
Turn your pot of water on for the pasta!
Once your mushrooms are done soaking, roughly chop them.
Heat your pan to medium high. Once heated, add olive oil and garlic.
Cook garlic for 30 seconds.
Add sun dried tomatoes and cook 1 minute.
Add mushrooms and cook for 1 minute.
Add tomato paste and cook for another minute.
You will need to add water to thin the sauce out, not too much. No more than 1/2 cup of water.
Cover the sauce, turn heat to medium heat.
Once the pasta water has come to a boil, add your pasta and only cook to al dente. Look at the package for cooking time and only cook with 2 minutes remaining till finished.
Once pasta is al dente, scoop pasta into sauce and ladle 2-3 ladles of pasta water as well.
Cook till pasta is done. That should be 2 minutes.
Drizzles 3 tbsp. of olive oil. Test the pasta to see how it tastes and to double check if it is cooked. If it is not cooked, ladle one more ladle full of water and stir till cooked.
Turn heat off and stir in spinach.
Scoop and serve with a sprinkle of parsley!
You will never do your pasta differently!
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