Technique: Using Pasta Water to Make A Sauce

Garlic Pasta with a little crispy Prosciutto

You may see an instruction in some pasta recipes to 'reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water'. It's a fairly important technique - but I've often taken that instruction somewhat lightly, especially if there are other sauce oriented ingredients in the recipe.

But if you boil this technique down to it's essentials (my apologies for the subconscious pun), it becomes more evident that there's power in it.

In the case I'll describe here, there are just 4 ingredients: pasta, cheese, olive oil and a garlic clove - does water really count?  It's easy to add simple ingredients like crispy prosciutto or pancetta, herbs, or just keep it plain, as seen in the orechiette below.

1. Put pasta water on to boil.
2. Slice one clove of garlic. 
3. Add two tablespoons olive oil to a very small pan or skillet. Add the garlic and cook over low heat for 5 minutes - do not let the garlic brown. Remove pan from heat. 
4. Cook pasta per directions (I recommend Barilla and DeCecco brands). 
5. While pasta is cooking, grate 1 to 2 ounces of good quality Parmesan or Romano.  
6. Just before draining, reserve about one cup of the pasta water (I use a 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup, with a handle). 
7. Drain pasta, return to pot or serving bowl. Add garlic, garlic oil and cheese. Mix. Then add about 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water. Mix. Keep adding pasta water about 1/2 cup or less at a time, stirring, to create a nice saucy consistency. 

Garlic Pasta with Roasted Mushrooms, Cauliflower and Grilled Hot Italian Sausage

Homemade Mac and Cheese

Exotic Mac and Cheese has been a trend for some years now. Yet I think that an excellent recipe that is close to the universal vision of the ordinary dish is something we all should have in our repertoire. 

I saw a promising recipe from avante-garde food creationists Aki Kamozawa and H. Alexander Talbott on  Tasting Table - an interesting website / email newsletter  (but please keep reading mine, too, OK?). They offered an innovative twist to make M&C - evaporated milk. But the original recipe was a little too rich for me - so I made a few minor modifications. I hope you try it. 

1 pound pasta

-- I recommend Barilla brand. Digitali (shown above) is a great shape for this dish.  

1 stick unsalted butter

12 ounce can evaporated milk

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

8 ounces cheddar cheese, grated

8 ounces pepper Jack cheese, grated

1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated

2/3 cup panko bread crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. 
2. Cook pasta, but stop cooking at 75% of the recommended cooking time. Drain, and rinse in cold water to stop cooking. 
3. While pasta cooks, add butter, evaporated milk, salt and cayenne in a large saucepan.
4. When the butter has melted add the cheddar and jack cheeses a little at a time. When incorporated into sauce, add pasta and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes.  
5. Butter a large baking dish. Add mac and cheese mixture. Sprinkle Parmesan and breadcrumbs evenly over top. 
6. Turn oven to low broil and  place dish on middle rack. Cook until nicely browned.