- And in prison now dinner, macaroni! - Vasily Alibabaevich grieved in one well-known film.
And may many housewives and owners forgive me, but now the twenty-first century is in the yard, and many have pasta come out such that they are not fed to people (even in prison, because torture is prohibited by the Geneva Convention), but cockroaches starve!
Not so long ago, in one catering establishment (I confess, roadside, because we moved from point A (that is, from capital) in the patrimony of Batka Lukashenko (that is, to my beautiful mother-in-law), we were served spaghetti bolognese.
The pasta feathers, stuck together in a large lump, shyly shivered under the sauce, pretending to be purebred Italians. Perhaps, if the dish was called naval pasta a la Vasily Alibabaevich (at least the entire staff of the institution was very similar to him), then I would even dare to try them.
And so... well, I had to send it back. Because it was impossible to give it even to a beggar. Firstly, due to the absence of beggars in the district, and secondly - so unpretentious beggars that they would agree to use such a thing, they usually do not last long ...
But in fact, you can cook any pasta more or less decently. Even "Shebekinskie" (well, if they have not completely deteriorated).
Once I read an interview with an Italian chef, a pasta champion. And he adopted several of his tricks.
1. Cook pasta only in a large saucepan! Liters of main water and plus a liter of water per hundred grams of dry pasta - that's it. We are not, after all, a paste, in which the concentration of flour or starch in the liquid is important. So do not spare the water. If anything, there are tons of publications in Zen that will tell you how to use it (but I do not recommend it, because washing your hair with "broth" and after pasta is stupid).
2. Cook pasta not as long as indicated on the package.
Therefore, manufacturers usually give recommendations with a "margin". A couple of minutes from the recommended time can be safely taken away. Especially if you don't like overcooked pasta.
3. If you have pasta without semolina, then they will most likely boil over and float. Semolina is a flour made from durum wheat. Have you noticed what an interesting yellowish color an expensive paste has? So this is because of the semolina, not because of the eggs.
If your pasta is not like that, then you can try to save the situation by adding oil to water, and not spoons in a saucepan, but at least a couple of three. And the cooking time should be reduced. This may or may not help - it all depends on the conscience of the manufacturer (therefore, it is better not to take light pasta). Yes, the whiter and lighter the pasta, the worse the quality is.
4. You need to salt the water even before you put the pasta into it. Otherwise, they will only be salty on the outside. And so - all will be salted. And salt should not be spared - for four to five liters of water at least a full tablespoon of salt, even with a slide.
And the main thing:
5. If you are cooking pasta to be served in a sauce, never cook it completely! Here half of the allotted time will be enough (well, for the most cautious, two-thirds or three-quarters). After the pasta should go to hot sauce and spend as much time in it as it was boiled.
And then the taste will be harmonious - pasta in sauce, and not so that the pasta is separately, and the sauce is separately. Just do not cook pasta in sauce in advance - and do not leave this dish waiting for eaters for several hours. Will become limp.
And you will have a monolith - a monument to products.