On a blog post I did the other week about me eating pasta when I 'Cooked Once and Ate Twice', Happy Introvert commented on a way of preparing pasta that I had never heard of before. So I decided that I would give it a go for myself.
You literally just put however much pasta you want to cook in a bowl, and then leave it to soak well covered in water for a couple of hours. The amount of starch that comes out of the pasta is amazing, and I found myself giving it a rinse in fresh cold water before I actually put it on to cook.
Doing this shortens the cooking time by a few minutes, so as well as making the pasta more easily digestible and slightly healthier, and you are also saving money on fuel.
While it was cooking I found that the pasta didn't clump together at all, and once cooked I tasted it before adding any sauce to the pan and found it to be a better texture and slightly tastier.
Yes, this particular pasta meal looks boring, I was concentrating so much on the pasta that I forgot to drop my peas into the cooking water like I usually do. It was a nice cheese sauce though. 😄
A few days later I decided to try it again with wholewheat spaghetti this time.
At first I was wondering what to put it into to soak, and then I realised it could just go into the central section of the sink. It worked a treat.
Not as much starch seemed to come out of the brown pasta during soaking, but once cooked it was a still a better texture and somehow tastier. I'll definitely be doing this from now on.
Thanks for the tip Happy Introvert.
Sue xx
That's good to know. I've also tried a method where you add the dry pasta to boiling water, bring the water to boil again and then, cover the pan, turn the heat off. and leave the pasta for 8 minutes or so. It continues to cook in the hot water.
ReplyDeleteI've never tried doing it that way either, there are so many different ways aren't there!
DeleteI've used this method quite a while. Sometimes I put the sauce (today it's ratatouille) into the pan and cook the pasta in the sauce. Saves a pan!
ReplyDeleteYes, I have frequently cooked pasta in the sauce, it makes for a much tastier dish, whether you do it on the stove top or in the oven as a pasta bake doesn't it. But from now on I think I will soak the pasta and then put it into the sauce for cooking, rather than just dry as I used to do it.
DeleteYou're welcome. I only use wholewheat pasta and find doing it this way makes it somehow taste nuttier, I assume because of less starch.
ReplyDeleteThe amount of starch that came out of the white pasta was astonishing. Thank you so much for this tip. xx
DeleteThis is a great tip for my husband who has diabetes-it will certainly reduce the starch. Thanks to you both for sharing. Catriona
ReplyDeleteIt will make it much better for him won't it. I'll be using this method when I make pasta for Alan too as he is diabetic.
DeleteWow! Great tip. I will try it for sure. Thanks.😁
ReplyDeleteIt really works, I love learning something new like this. :-)
DeleteWhat a good tip. I’m new here and just found you.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the gang. Isn't it funny how we suddenly find 'new to us' blogs, I'm doing it all the time ... and now that I can link to yours. I'll add you to my sidebar. xx
DeleteThank you.
Delete❤️ xx
DeleteI've never heard of this method before. Thanks, Sue, for testing it on our behalf! I'll definitely give it a go now :)
ReplyDeleteAngie
Don't know why I'm suddenly anonymous again... :/
DeleteAngie
I was intrigued to try this method out and very glad that it worked so well. :-)
DeleteBlogger definitely has it's foibles doesn't it, but at least you signed your name on your anonymous comment, I always appreciate that. xx
DeleteGreat tip, I'll be trying this
ReplyDeleteAlison in Devon x
It's well worth doing. xx
DeletePasta is not my favorite meal, because of the texture, if this method makes it better as well as the taste, I will give it a try. Thanks for the tip.
ReplyDeleteIt might be worth you trying it out to see if this method helps. My Mum has always hated any sort of pasta with a vengeance, I doubt she would even like it this way!
DeleteExcellent idea, thank you both. Wonder how it would work with rice?
ReplyDeleteI don't know, but I think it would be worth a try. I have heard of people soaking rice.
DeleteIt certainly sounds worthwhile.
ReplyDeleteIt's a way that I will continue to use. 😀
DeleteInteresting. I do soak rice and rinse it well before cooking and I suppose this is the same basic idea to get rid of some starch. Might have to give that a try.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
I have rinsed my rice for years, but I have never thought to soak it, I'll be trying this next. 😀
DeleteThat's interesting! Pasta doesn't figure very often in our diet - we've been working through a case for that pea pasta for about two years - it is delicious and great when we're working at festivals. Does soaking it make it softer? I like mine al dente. xxx
ReplyDeleteIt definitely makes it softer, but not overly so. But perhaps it would make pea pasta too mushy. Maybe try it with just a couple of pieces first. It definitely speeds up the cooking process, so that would be great at festivals. 😀
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