Chief Longwind Of The North
Certified/Certifiable
I have read that in Italy, pasta is all about the pasta itself, with the Sauce used to dress the pasta, like a seasoning. The pasta is combined with the sauce before it is served.
Growing up, my Dad would take me to dinners he shared with some good friends who made pasta this way, usually spaghetti. The ragu would be made, and the noodles cooked al dente. It would be combined together and placed in a very large roasting pan (3 adults and 4 teenage boys), then baked. It was very tasty, but much dryer than what we made, as the ragu and pasta were served separately.
I thought about this as lasagna is very similar to our freid's version of spaghetti. So I decided to experiment and combine the two different serving styles. I really enjoy a great tomato ragu with lots of meat, and veggies, well spiced, on my pasta. I also love the way that lasagna noodles absorb the sauce flavor as it's baking. So what I did was to make my ragu, add 2 cups of water to make it soupy, then add the uncooked pasta noodles directly to the sauce, where they absorb the sauce flavor as they hydrate, The end result is a sauce that is thick, and rich, with help from the pasta starch, and noodles that are al dente. This also makes the meal a one-pot dish.
Just sharing my observations in case anyone else would like to try this method. So what are your favorite ways to prepare your pasta with sauce?
Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
Growing up, my Dad would take me to dinners he shared with some good friends who made pasta this way, usually spaghetti. The ragu would be made, and the noodles cooked al dente. It would be combined together and placed in a very large roasting pan (3 adults and 4 teenage boys), then baked. It was very tasty, but much dryer than what we made, as the ragu and pasta were served separately.
I thought about this as lasagna is very similar to our freid's version of spaghetti. So I decided to experiment and combine the two different serving styles. I really enjoy a great tomato ragu with lots of meat, and veggies, well spiced, on my pasta. I also love the way that lasagna noodles absorb the sauce flavor as it's baking. So what I did was to make my ragu, add 2 cups of water to make it soupy, then add the uncooked pasta noodles directly to the sauce, where they absorb the sauce flavor as they hydrate, The end result is a sauce that is thick, and rich, with help from the pasta starch, and noodles that are al dente. This also makes the meal a one-pot dish.
Just sharing my observations in case anyone else would like to try this method. So what are your favorite ways to prepare your pasta with sauce?
Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North