Alphecca

Washing off nutritional stuff? No idea. I always rinse briefly to keep it from sticking but I may have to rethink that now.

My favorite pasta dish is to coat with olive oil, with garlic, artichoke hearts, and shrimp (or chicken, but I prefer shrimp), plus a little garlic and maybe onion.

I like my pasta with a heavy cream, butter and Parmesean sauce. It's not a cheese sauce, it's alfredo!

Also, -_- on the cheese sauce comment. Chedder sauce pwns.

I am not sure what the rinsing does, but on shaped pasta packages it typically seems to say rinse for stuff like pasta salads, and don't rinse otherwise.

We sometimes have it with butter and parm cheese. Generally we alternate between jarred al fredo sauce, sometimes with chicken and brocolli, or just chicken (easy dish either way; cut chicken breast into small chunks, cook done in frying pan with as little as some garlic powder and black pepper - it can also work with a *small* amounts of other stuff like red pepper - heat the sauce from the jar, mix in chicken - and very slightly undercooked brocolli if doing that; the frozen works fine and is convenient - and mix into the pasta, which is usually penne, ziti or rotini but can be any shape), and jarred red sauce that I modify beyond recognition and add burger - or lately sausage - to.

The chicken broc al fredo is a great "any fool can toss it together and look fancy" dish to serve company. It's also great leftovers, with or without the addition of some cheese as I used to be in the habit of doing.

I used to love Prego, especially the chunky garden vegetable, but they decided to new and improve it, featuring an overwhelming pepper flavor. I prefer a sauce that already tastes good and can be built on, or one that is generic and needs to be built on. We like Francesco Rinaldi best. It's cheap and sometimes on sale for a buck a jar. Wal-Mart seems to have just started carrying it at $1.32, which we are willing to pay instead of our second choice, Wal-Mart's store brand, for $1 a jar.

Generally my sauce, whichever I start with, tastes similar each time, even though I measure nothing. I use Italian seasoning, garlic powder, maybe a touch of onion powder, black pepper, red pepper, ginger, and lately I experiment with some of the spices that are constituents of Italian seasoning. Then cinnamon as needed to lighten the flavor, depending how acidic or bitter it seems, but go light or you get sauce that tastes like cinnamon overwhelmingly. Ginger seems to help a little too as a modifier. Then sugar or brown sugar to sweeten it up or balance it if the spices seem too strong. Not a lot; generally don't need more than a heaping spoonful of white or equivalent of brown (probably a good tablespoon), and not sure I've ever had to use more than two.

Less spicing for sausage, depending on its inherent flavor. More for burger. Most oif my spice goes in the burger when I fry it up, before dumping in the sauce. Then touchup and the ones that modify the flavor and tone after the sauce is in. I tend to end up with sauce that a mild, even a little sweet, and meet that comes through with a stronger flavor. Remember that when and how you spice matters. Many things lose flavor the longer they cook. Olive oil carries spices and imbues them into the meat differently from butter. I'm actually still getting used to olive oil when I cook what we call "random chicken," which is chunks of chicken cooked in my cast iron skillet with a bit of oil or butter and various spices thrown in. Used to be more pepper/garlic. Now it's more likely to be oriented toward sage, savory or rosemary. The latter is especially good when baking a chicken or turkey. I slice little butter pockets into the skin in places and put pats of butter in them. Besides putting rosemary and whatever on the bird in general, you can embed it into the butter that you stick into the slits in the skin. But I digress.

FYI our al fredo sauce brand of choice is Classico, which also is on sale a lot and not that bad in price normally. They make acceptable red sauce too, IIRC, though not what we prefer. I think we decided we didn't like Bertolli (or another B brand?) white sauce anywhere near as much.

Jay, I've done the chicken and brocolli pasta salad myself and it's great. Even my friends say I do it pretty well. I use an Italian dressing with it but add the grated parmesan as you mentioned. It's the alfredo sauces I'm not wild about. Those are the kinds of recipes I'd love to have from others. Let's all share... (cue Barney)

Rinsing pasta risks watering down the sauce and making it less likely to cling to the pasta. Watery sauce = bad. No nutritional issue involved. Tossing cooked pasta with a bit of olive oil helps keep it from sticking together without risking a watery sauce. When creating a pasta salad, rinsing (and draining again) also does not risk watering down the end product. Hope this helps.

Your pasta just spent several minutes in water, which you dumped down the sink. What further harm could a quick rinse do?

Cold water is less leechy than hot water -- try making tea with with cold sometime and see what I mean -- and more likely to soak into the pasta than hot because it lacks the boiling action, so I don't expect much stuff to transfer to the rinsing water at all.

I don't rinse for hot pasta; rinse and chill for salads. You like soup? How about a can of Cream of Chicken soup (butter, seasonings to taste, maybe some canned chicken) stirred in. Cream of Mushroom works too, or tomato plus some beef and seasoning. Somebody once suggested clam chowder to me, but I don't like clam chowder that much. Really, just about any creamy style soup makes a good sauce, straight from the can or warmed a little. 'Course, in a pinch, there's always salt and pepper and a bunch of butter, and eat from the pot.

Usually you rinse the pasta to get rid of the surface startch which will cause it to stick like a lump. But if you put a sauce on it right away you do not have to. Second reason is a friend told me it also stopped the pasta from cooking a further. I have noticed that it satys firmer when rinsed.

Sauce, I like the following because it is easy and good.

sauce pan with a bit of olive oil in bottom. Heat it up a bit on low heat then put in some parsley, sage rosemary and thyme. Yup, just like the song.
when the aroma starts to waft up then add a large can of tuttorosso tomato sauce and let heat up till just slowly boiling. I like the tuttorosso bacause it is just good stuff.
http://www.redgold.com/products/tuttorosso_main.html
I tend to use the whole and crushed tomato can.

redpack is also very good but needs a bit more seasoning than the tuttorosso

From an "adopted" Italian.
Make your own sauce. Grind/chop some garlic. In
a little virgin olive oil brown it a little. Add
some tomatoe sauce, fresh chopped tomatoes, some
chopped onion. Cook till the tomatoes get soft.
Now boil your pasta till its the way you like it.
Don't rinse it. Why I don't know, butI got
yelled at when I did it! Top with parmesan and
season to suit.

You can get creative and add other stuff to the
sauce like chopped peppers or whatever you like.
Theres no rules. To go along with the pasta, cut
up fresh garlic fine, and brown it a little. Add
sliced zucchini or bell pepper or chicken breast
sliced thin coated with egg and breadcrums. fry
in some virgin olive oil with the garlic you
browned. Pretty good and easy. Enjoy, KP

P.S.(my inlaws are Italian, so I'm adopted)

"While I'm on the subject, what are some of your favorite things to do with pasta, anyway?"

You will need:

Cooked pasta
KY jelly or similar
Crazy glue or similar

Oh wait -- these were FOOD questions?

Never mind.

Drain, don't rinse. Toss in a little olive oil to keep it from sticking together. Try plain spaghetti with soy sauce. Talk about quick. Egg noodles are good the same way.

Gerry

First, no need to rinse pasta. What you've been washing off is a little starch - don't worry about it. If you want hold the pasta for a while and keep the pasta from sticking after rinsing, toss it in a colander with a little olive oil.

Two simple, delicious pasta recipies to try:

Pasta with clam sauce (for one)
Saute one garlic clove and parsley (fresh or dry) just until garlic cooks (no more than 1 minute) in a quarter cup of olive oil. As soon as garlic is cooked add juice from one 6.5 oz. can of chopped clams (reserve clams) and remove from heat.

Meanwhile, cook 4 oz of pasta until just barely done. Better here to be slightly underdone than over cooked. I like shell pasta with this dish. Drain pasta well and add to sauce. Turn heat to high and cook vigorously for 2-3 minutes or until sauce is almost completely incorporated into pasta. Stir in reserved clams from can and salt to taste. Serve immediately.

Pasta alla Ramagna
Cook 4 oz. of pasta, drain and set aside. Almost any kind works for this. I usually use linguine.

In a saute pan, cook two garlic cloves and one tsp. red pepper flakes in 1/4 cup of good olive oil. When garlic is just cooked (less than 1 minute) add pasta and toss until fully incorporated. Salt to taste. Serve immediately with good parmesan or romano cheese.

As Julia would have said, bon apetit!!

Rinse if it's overcooked (cooling it to slam the door on further cooking) then a bit of oil.

If you want to reduce the acidity of the tomato sauce, try adding a couple of dollops of milk as you are heating the sauce. You can also add some fine shredded cheeses(I use Kraft five Italian cheeses blend myself.) at the same time. Kind of like adding milk to tomato soup. The latic acid in the milk cuts down the acid from the tomato. Or add a shredded/blenderized carrot. Does the same thing

I vote for pesto sauce which is simple to make:
2 cups packed basil leaves
1/4 cup pine nuts (pinole)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp salt
2 tb lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil (or less if you like fewer cals.)

Put all ingredients in a food processor except the oil. Turn on machine and slowly pour the oil thru the feed tube. Put in a sealable container & store in the fridge or the freezer. Heat a portion in the microwave and toss with the cooked pasta. If the pesto seems too thick, dilute it with some water from the pasta pot. Enjoy!

Favorite -Pasta Salad - Elbow Macaroni cooked al dente and rinsed in cold water, mixed with chopped red onion, smoked turkey breast cut into small -1/2"- pieces , chopped seeded tomato, chopped avocado.
Dressing of red wine vinegar and olive oil in equal parts with tbsp dijohn mustard, salt, pepper, and
parsley flakes, poured over salad , then toss /stir.
Best chilled 2-3 hours in refrig.

Time consuming to make, but we make BIG batches and eat on for several days.

MMMMM Good

The naysayer's probably confusing it with white rice, which usually has supplemental vitamins and minerals sprayed onto it before packaging. Rinsing the rice before cooking (commonly done to reduce stickiness) will wash this layer off.

I don't rinse my pasta, but I use as much water as I can in which to boil in to dillute the starch as much as possible. I used to make big batches of my own tomato sauce (very chunky and tasty) and stretched it out to 4 or 5 meals, but I've cut back on carbohydrates and don't do it very often anymore.

Quick lo-carb meal: Grill a skinless chicken breast with a slice of swiss cheese melted over the top and serve with Dijon mustard and some veggies on the side.

As mentioned already, rinsing washes off the startch, which is usually bad if you want the sauce to stick (esp if you're using oil I'd think).

I use Emeril's Kickin' Tomato sauce. Cooks Illustrated (or America's Test Kitchen) recommended it after they tested a bunch of jarred sauce. It has some heat to it, which is a nice change from the crap in the rest of the jars. It isn't too expensive either. (You just have to ignore the name on the label!)

Draining and/or overcooking removes nutrients. A touch of olive oil or butter enhances results. Substitute some egg plant for some of the tomatoes for less tomatoie taste. Good luck - it beats the old C-Rats any day

My vote for Pesto too, totally yummy. There's also a Mediterranean mix of veggie stuff called a Tapenade usually with olives that can substitute. Some good delis have it pre-made in the cold-section.
What kind of pots and pans do you have? It's like guns, there are definately grades, and Revere Ware is near the bottom.

Two Words: Kraft Dinner. Mmmmm, mmmmm, good!

Seriously, though, being a Single Guy, I usually cook up a mess of pasta and put it in the fridge, so I don't have to go through the bother of cooking several smaller batches. As has been said by others, I "rinse" my pasta to cool it down to keep it from continuing to cook and turn all soft and mushy. Toss with some olive oil to keep from sticking, and you're good to go.

As for a sauce, how about some cream of mushroom soup - assuming you like mushrooms. You could thin it out a bit, depending on how thick you like your sauce.

Me, I buy whatever canned tomato sauce is on sale and then "fiddle" with it from there.

This one may be to cheesy, but I love it. I only make it once or twice a year for health reasons.

Pasta Carbonara
serves 1

1/4 pound pancetta, cut into thin strips
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/4 pound dried penne
1 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

Heat a large saute pan, until hot. Add pancetta and saute until golden brown and crispy, about 5 minutes. Season with black pepper and remove pan from heat.
In a medium bowl, beat the eggs yolks. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in Parmesan, reserving 2 tablespoons for garnish.

In a large pot, boil 6 quarts of salted boiling water. Add pasta and cook until al dente, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta in a colander. Do not rinse with water; you want to retain the pasta's natural starches so that the sauce will stick. While the pasta is still hot, return it back to the pot. Add the browned pancetta (including grease)and mix well. Add the egg mixture and coat the pasta completely. It's important to work quickly while the pasta is still warm so that the egg mixture will cook. Add remaining Parmesan and chopped parsley.

Here's another that is a bit spicy. You can top it with chicken or shrimp, or just use it as a side dish.

Spicy Pasta with Garlic and Red Pepper Flakes

1 pound dried spaghetti
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes, plus more if desired
1/4 cup chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint leaves

In a large pot, bring to a boil 6 quarts of salted water. Add pasta and cook until al dente, about 6 to 8 minutes. Drain pasta in a colander, reserving 2 tablespoons of the pasta water. The reserved pasta water will help create the sauce. Do not rinse pasta with water -- you want to retain the pasta's natural starches so that the sauce will stick.
In a large saute pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute until light brown and fragrant. It's important not too burn the garlic or else it will become bitter. Remove and discard the browned garlic. Add the red pepper flakes and saute for 1 minute. Carefully add the reserved pasta water and stir to combine. Place the spaghetti into the pan and mix well for 1 minute.

Remove pan from heat and top with fresh herbs