Everyday Pasta by Giada Laurentiis (summer beach reads TXT) 📕

readily available; and it’s generally very easy to prepare—everything you want in a meal! So when the low-carb craze hit the American food culture with a vengeance, it was disheartening to see pasta singled out as one of the ultimate dietary evils. The truth is, pasta itself contains virtually no fat, and, eaten in moderation, it is quite low in calories. The real culprit is the supersized portions we’ve all come to regard as normal. Any food consumed in large quantities is unhealthy, regardless of its carbohydrate content. A slice of bread with butter won’t make you fat; half a loaf will.

Luckily, America has recognized that a carb-free diet is unrealistic in so many ways and that a healthy portion of pasta—about two to four ounces—can be tasty and filling. Since most of our schedules give us little free time to do much of anything, much less cook, pasta offers an easy solution when we need a quick meal that is also good for us and, most importantly, tastes amazing.

Pasta (which means “paste” in Italian) is simply semolina (durum wheat flour) combined with water or milk to create a dough that can be transformed into literally hundreds of sizes, shapes, colors, and flavors.

I grew up eating penne, spaghetti, rigatoni, pastina, and orecchiette, and over the years I have expanded the list of favorites to include fettuccine, fusilli, farfalle, orzo, and wheat pasta, among others.

In fresh pasta, the liquid is replaced by eggs for a richer, more delicate flavor that is a real treat, especially with cream-based sauces like a béchamel. I have provided a very easy recipe for those who would like to try their hands at making fresh pasta, something I urge you to do if you have some time (and a pasta rolling machine!). However, even if you don’t make your own, it is now easy to find fresh pasta at gourmet specialty stores and even the supermarket, so do add it to your repertoire.

With so many varieties of pasta cuts and flavors available, it isn’t difficult to be creative when deciding upon a dish. Pasta provides a perfect neutral canvas on which to combine flavors and ingredients. It can be warming and comforting when the days are cool, and light and fresh tasting when the temperatures rise. It’s a perfect showcase for fresh seasonal vegetables, and an inexpensive way to stretch a little bit of a costly ingredient like seafood or exotic mushrooms to feed a group. Many pasta dishes are all-in-one meals that, at most, need a quick, easy vegetable side dish or perhaps a simple appetizer to round them out (see Pasta Go-Withs for some of my favorite sides, salads, and bread accompaniments for pasta meals). Best of all, nearly all the recipes in this book can be assembled in the time it takes to bring water to a boil and cook the pasta, and many of those that are a bit more involved can be made ahead and reheated or served at room temperature. When you have a well-stocked pantry of ingredients such as olive oil, tomato paste, whole canned tomatoes, anchovies, parsley, basil, garlic, lemons, and olives, you’re already halfway to a great pasta meal.

The other half has to do with preparing your pasta properly and maximizing its full texture and flavor. I always tell people that there’s nothing to be afraid of when cooking pasta. It’s practically failsafe if you follow a few simple rules. First and foremost, pasta should always be cooked in a large pot with plenty of generously salted, boiling water to allow the noodles to swim freely, releasing their starches and cooking evenly. Your pasta should be al dente or “to the tooth,” which means that when you take a bite of your cooked pasta, it should still offer slight resistance. Remember: residual heat will continue to cook the pasta even after it’s drained, whether it is transferred into a hot sauce or left to cool at room temperature. Don’t ever rinse your pasta unless you’re making a pasta salad; the starches add flavor and help the sauce adhere to the noodles. And finally, always reserve a half cup or so of the cooking water before you drain the pasta to add to the sauce. The starch in the water will add flavor and help the sauce stick to the noodles. It’s my secret to any good pasta sauce.

I wanted to write this book as a way of sharing with you the central role pasta has played in my family—as it has in the lives of most Italian families. When we gather around the table, there is always a pasta dish in the center.

When I open my pantry, there’s always pasta, and when I think about Italian food, I see pasta. If you already love pasta, I hope these recipes will make you love it more; and if you’re just embarking on the pasta journey, I think you’ll quickly see what all the fuss is about.

Giada’s top

10 Pasta-Cooking Tips

1. Always cook pasta in a big-enough pot; one that is tall and deep rather than wide and shallow is best for long strands.

2. Use a generous amount of water; the pasta should be able to swim freely in the pot.

3. Salt the water with a good handful of kosher or sea salt; this is really your only chance to season the pasta itself (and not just the sauce), and salt brings out the flavor of any pasta.

4. Never rinse cooked pasta; the starch on the surface contributes flavor and helps the sauce adhere. The only exception to this rule is pasta for cold salads, which will be too sticky and gummy when the noodles cool unless some of the surface starch is rinsed off.

5. Always reserve a quarter cup or so of the pasta cooking water to add to the sauce. This both loosens the sauce so it can coat the pasta and contributes starch that helps it cling better.

6. Don’t add olive oil to the pasta