Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with pasta

It's past-a joke.

Solomon — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:28:46 -0800

What should I know before buying a pasta maker? I've been tasked with buying a pasta maker. I know nothing about them, other than that you roll the pasta out, put it in the machine and turn the handle. Please educate me.

What sort of cost am I looking at? Are there any special features I might want or need? Is any machine better for a pasta-making virgin? Any particular brand I should buy? Is electric better than hand cranked?

The recipient doesn't have a dishwasher and will probably only make lasagne sheets and other similar variants with it.

Ideally, I'm looking for a list of things to verify before spending the cash, but any other things that might be relevant are welcome too.

Spontaneous ravioli help

kaseijin — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:14:39 -0800

Ravioli help! I need a creative, fast, tasty sauce idea... I was left with extra pasta sheets after running out of filling while making ravioli. Not wanting to waste my, I made a few extras with scrounged ingredients. The result: Brie and asiago ravioli with dried cherries. They're great. The problem is what to sauce them with. I only have enough for one serving, so it's gonna be my quick dinner tonight.

Help me, o cooks of MeFi, I beseech thee!

Pasta without Parmesan?

mellifluous — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 20:34:56 -0800

Is there any good replacement for Parmesan cheese in pasta recipes? I frequently see recipes like this, that feature pasta, fresh vegetables, and Parmesan cheese. I'd love to make something like this, except that I hate Parmesan cheese - I also hate asiago, bleu cheese, and any other cheese that has that sharp, vomit-like, butyric acid taste. (And yes, I've had really good Parmesan, and yes, I still don't like it very much.)

I'm guessing the Parmesan in those recipes is supposed to melt and coat each noodle with a kind of milky, creamy taste, such that the pasta doesn't taste bland, but the vegetables remain more prominent. Is there some kind of mild cheese I can use for this purpose, that would pair well with pasta and vegetables? I'm kind of new to fancy cheese, and I have yet to develop very sophisticated or adventurous taste, but I've enjoyed Edam, smoked cheddar, fresh ball mozzarella, and monetary jack. I don't think I like Swiss very much.

Loopy curvy deliciousness

yesster — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 22:00:56 -0800

Does the intersection of a torus and a gravity-bent plane always result in a bezier curve? I don't know what I'm talking about. I did math up through linear algebra and 3 semesers of calculus -- but -- -

I feel that there is an interesting idea space that combines mandelbrot, bezier, mobius, escher, and fluid dynamics. This is a wholly intuitive notion, coming from a very analytic person.

Cut me down, call me nasty names. I can't follow the math anymore. Please let me know if there are connections here, or if I should just go make pasta.

[tangential: I'd love to see a PhD thesis on the topography of pasta]

Russian pasta?

LN — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 06:28:23 -0800

Help me find a cream-vodka pasta sauce recipe? I had a pasta dish at a restaurant a little while ago, which was really good, and am having trouble finding a recipe for it. the restaurant called it "Pasta Romanov", and it was a cream-based sauce with vodka and cracked black pepper. It didn't have tomatoes in it. It was rich-tasting, but the flavours were balanced, and I came away from the meal thinking, "mmm! I'd love to make that for a dinner party!"

I've looked online for a recipe, without much success. I've also tried adapting other cream-based sauces, but again, without success.

Has anyone run across such a sauce before, and can they point me in the direction of a good recipe for it??

I want to make pasta like an Italian grandma

exceptinsects — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:27:01 -0800

My pasta machine is a useless waste of space. Please help! I love fresh pasta, and I would love to make it more often. The problem is that whenever I do, it ends up being a 5-hour process that covers the entire kitchen with flour.
As a result, the pasta machine sits in the cupboard covered with dust.

How can I do it more efficiently? Can you make a bunch at once and freeze it? Is there a faster method?

I've been using the "make a big pile of flour and whisk eggs into it" method, and the pasta machine is the hand-crank kind where you feed the dough through it like 90 times in a row. (small exaggeration)

Fungal lovin', havin' a blast...

Asherah — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 13:10:26 -0800

What are your most flavorful and amazing recipes for a wild mushroom pasta or saute? I'm visiting San Francisco and have wandered across an amazing wild mushroom selection at Rainbow Grocery. I'm looking for recipes to use these beauties in a simple, flavorful saute or some type of olive oil based pasta dish to highlight the flavors of the mushrooms.

All recommendations welcome!

Is "Lander Macaroni" A Real Dish?

roryks — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 09:08:05 -0800

Does a dish named Lander Macaroni really exist, or is it a figment of my wife's imagination? She seems to remember it included potato, but wasn't convinced it was made with cheese. Sink your teeth into that one!

On top of spaghetti , All covered with cheese, I lost my poor meatball, When somebody sneezed.

MiltonRandKalman — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 18:44:26 -0800

Looking for a easy to follow chart for pairing of pasta sauces and types/shapes of pasta (preferably a visual guide). Most of the ones of finding are too general and pasta shapes are usually created with a particular sauce in mind.

What has mushrooms, garlic and oil and little else?

davathar — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 17:04:49 -0800

What simple pasta dish has just mushrooms and garlic and olive oil and some spices? I used to go to a small Italian restaurant in Richmond, VA that had a dish called Penne Karl that I absolutely loved. I've tried to duplicate the recipe many times by experimentation. And I've tried to find recipes online for it. But all to no avail.

All I know about it is that it's got some small sliced mushrooms, tons of minced garlic, and it's sauteed in olive oil. I think it's also got some green spices and maybe salt. But I don't know. It was usually served tossed with Penne and with a dish of Parmesan cheese to add at the table.

Does anyone know a recipe like this that actually has some flavor unlike my attempts? Maybe it's all in the choice of ingredients. Maybe roasted garlic? Maybe a particular kind of mushroom? Infused oil?

What Italian dish makes the least mess?

malusmoriendumest — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:55:27 -0800

A question of eating etiquette. I'm meeting my boyfriend's mother tomorrow, and I'm anxious to make a good impression. The restaurant they've chosen is an Italian bistro, and though I love Italian food in general, I tend to veer towards unfortunately messy foods like spaghetti. Basically, I need a dish that's clean, simple and easy to eat. I've had various pasta dishes suggested, but any thoughts?

Pasta e Fagioli

dawson — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 10:30:20 -0800

Pasta e Fagioli, I simply must have your recipe, my dear. I have a few good Italian cookbooks and Google, but I'd really love to have your 'secret' Pasta e Fagioli recipe, as I'm still searching for the perfect homemade bowl. Minestrone recipes very welcomed as well.

Can someone advise on whether this food will still be okay to eat?

angryjellybean — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 02:59:43 -0800

Can someone advise on whether this food will still be okay to eat? It's possibly a really stupid post, so, sorry in advance.

I bought some stuffed pasta shells - found in the refrigerated section of the supermarket - which need to be cooked before eating (for 2-3 minutes in boiling water).

It does say on the packaging 'Keep Refrigerated' (before cooking, I assume) but what it DOESN'T say is, "If you were drunk last night and left it on the kitchen counter because you forgot to put it in the fridge, don't eat it because it will already have spoiled even if you cook it."

Note: it's still in it's sealed plastic packaging and I did put it in the fridge this morning. But it had been out all night in possibly a 20 degree temperature. It contains egg (not sure if this means raw or not), and proscuitto meat.

I apologise for what will probably be responded to with 'just throw it away and buy another one', but I am actually interested to know whether it's still perfectly fine to eat once cooked. Plus I am poor and it was expensive, and I always secretly think food isn't quite as dangerous as the manufacturers make out. :/

Reading Rainbow Music Needed

dinty_moore — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:18:29 -0800

Searching for a song filter: looking for a song that played on Reading Rainbow in 1988. I'm looking for a way to listen to 'the pasta song' from Reading Rainbow: The Robbery at the Diamond Dog Diner. I'm not picky as to how-if it's available streaming somewhere or if I can buy it on cassette. I've been looking for a few hours with no luck, so any help would be appreciated!

Which Shape of Pasta is the Cheapest?

complience — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 05:52:27 -0800

Which Shape of Pasta is the Cheapest? I've noticed in the supermarket, different shapes of pasta are different prices, now im sure there might be a slight cost difference in producing pasta of a certian shape. But sometimes more than double is alot more than I expected.

What Pasta shape is the cheapest to produce and which is the cheapest to buy? and why?

Tesco Fusilli Pasta Twists (£1.56/kg)
Tesco Penne Pasta Quills (£1.24/kg)
Tesco Linguine Pasta (£1.10/kg)
Tesco Short Spaghetti (£0.90/kg)
Tesco Macaroni (£1.38/kg)
Tesco Tagliatelle (£1.84/kg)

I was reading an article on the standard cost of living in the UK that showed the same thing.

Here

It puts average cost of living at £13,400 (*beyond stupid i know)

Report
however this is not about that.. its about the price index the report used. Simlar to the Retail Price index used for inflation.

It shows

Pasta, dried (fusilli) was 78p

Pasta, dried (spaghetti) was 41p

Best store bought alfredo sauce

shotgunbooty — Wed, 21 May 2008 15:58:46 -0800

Best store-bought Alfredo sauce? Please reserve judgment :)

Good pasta in San Diego?!

brynna — Sat, 17 May 2008 13:58:41 -0800

Where can I find fresh pasta in San Diego? I'm looking to find a restaurant (or great market) that serves (or sells!) fresh, amazing pasta. I'm based in San Diego and my search has been fruitless so far. Help!

What on earth is "Lobster Sauce"?

sirion — Mon, 12 May 2008 04:10:47 -0800

What is "lobster sauce" and do you have a good recipe for it? When I go out to eat and see things like "pasta with lobster sauce" or, better, "lobster with pasta with lobster sauce", or still good, "Shrimp with risotto and lobster sauce", I will always order them, and pretty consistently, wipe the plate clean with any available bread.

Looking online has provided a few things that seem to resemble what I'm looking for, but many of them are so varied from one another that I suspect maybe there's a name for this sauce other than "lobster sauce".

The sauce I'm looking for is orange-ish in color, typically served with pasta and seafood, and almost always with chives on top. Typically seen in French restaurants or all sorts of fusion restaurants.

So! My questions are: What do you know about this sauce? Do you have any reliably good recipes for this sauce? What substitutions work and which do not (most importantly, is *lobster* a key ingredient in "lobster" sauce? I've seen some recipes involving shrimp shells or fish stock or what have you. Are these sillyness? (Not requiring lobster would mean I get to eat this way more often, which sounds good to me).

What was the name of the witch's hat in Scarios?

atropos — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:41:00 -0800

Help me solve this scary pasta mystery: What was the name of the witch's hat in Heinz Scarios? In commercials for Scarios in the 1980s, four of the five pasta shapes were referred to by name. There was Ghostio, Loony Moon, Pumpykin, and Sharky. The fifth shape was a witch's hat. Did it have a name? My husband has been trying to find the answer to this question for about 15 years. Please help me put him out of his misery.

Tasty whole-wheat pasta?

radioamy — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 10:29:59 -0800

Are there any decent-tasting whole-wheat pastas? So I took the leap and joined Weight Watchers. One of the things they recommend is to eat more whole grains. So I'm trying to switch from regular pasta to whole wheat. So instead of buying my regular delicious De Cecco penne, I bought a box of their whole-wheat penne. I knew it would be different than regular pasta, but I didn't expect it to taste so...horrible! It was barely palatable. I really would have been better off just putting marinara on the shrimp and broccoli and skipping the pasta.

I know there must be better-tasting whole wheat pastas out there. Please, health-conscious hive mind, help me! What do you recommend?

FWIW, I live in the Southern United States. I prefer to shop at the regular run-of-the mill chain grocery, but I will go to Whole Foods if that's what it takes!

Please tell me how to stuff it.

bondcliff — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 08:59:38 -0800

What are your favorite ravioli fillings and sauces? Homemade ravioli are one of my favorite foods to make. I seem to be stuck in a rut though, always making the same ricotta and spinach filling, served with a butter/garlic/sage sauce. I recently branched out and made a roasted butternut squash filling served with the same sauce. It was pretty damn awesome.

I’m looking for good suggestions / recipes for both fillings and sauces. The pasta part of it I can handle, though tips in that area are certainly welcome. For the most part I use AB’s method (but without the ironing board) and it seems to work pretty well.

Anything raviloi related is welcome, actually. Sides/mains to serve with it, wines, derivatives, etc. Have at it, people.

If this thread doesn’t reach 1000 comments by 5:00PM EST, I’ll be very disappointed. Also, I can’t believe I’m the first use the ravioli tag.

Mystery of the Missing Pasta

platinum — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 16:24:10 -0800

I'm trying to find pastina, that tiny star-shaped pasta usually used in soups, somewhere in Orange County, CA. For some reason it seems to have disappeared off the shelves of the local supermarkets. (Albertsons and Ralphs are the two I've checked.) It's my husband's favorite comfort food and he has the flu right now, so I know he could use a little comfort. Any recommendations on stores that might carry it? (I'm in Huntington Beach if that helps.)

what is tomato sauce really made of?

zebra3 — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 12:49:37 -0800

I'm getting ready to make my first serious attempt at marinara. Recipes that I have seen vary on whether one should use whole tomatoes, canned tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato puree, or tomato sauce. What effect does it have on the finished product to use or not use any of these in particular? I plan on working from my mother-in-law's recipe, which calls for a combination of tomato sauce and tomato paste, and is of the slow-cooking variety...

But as I've been looking at other recipes for perspective, I see that the most essential ingredient varies wildly looking at different recipes, since there are so many forms available.

I have seen this, this, this, and this, which are all delightfully packed with recipes and tips and make me desperately hungry for pasta, yet none of them address my question: what effect does it have on your finished red sauce if you do or don't use these variously processed or unprocessed forms of tomato?

Mmm, fresh tagliatelle...

roygbv — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 23:53:23 -0800

I want to make pasta, but it's oh-so-complicated... The girlfriend and I both enjoy really simple, traditional Italian food. Unfortunately, we're both in college and haven't had a decent Italian dish in months (our school food is terrible). We will both have more free time next semester, and I really enjoy cooking, so I thought it would be appropriate to try and make some healthy and more delicious things.

Home-made pasta seemed to be a nice starting point - my mother makes it and it is incredible, so much better than the store-bought stuff. It is simple to do and would be a great way to spend an afternoon, but there are some snags:

- I've only got a dorm kitchen to work with, meaning a simple electric stove, a sink, and notalot of counter space
- I've got some cooking equipment but do not own a pasta machine, and I'd prefer not to buy one (is there a way to get away with a smaller, less expensive tool?)
- we both eat relatively small portions, so it would be ideal if we could make a batch and store it over a week or two (at home my family would usually eat an entire batch, none left to freeze or whatever)

We are, of course, on a college budget and living in dorm rooms. The most affordable and most simple (easy cleanup) solution would be ideal. What I am really looking for is the least intensive way to make some simple yet excellent pasta. Thanks mefi!

Which Italian language software should I buy?

Naberius — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 12:50:43 -0800

Recommendations for Italian language learning software? This would be for someone who's not a rank beginner, but probably not quite up to intermediate level either. Madame Naberius has expressed an interest in polishing up her Italian since various family members have gone over to visit the fabled cousins in Bari lately and why should she feel left out? She's got kind of a rusty tourist Italian - ordering pasta and asking directions to the train station kind of stuff - but that's about it.

The big contenders in the market seem to be Rosetta Stone (all the levels and versions confuse me) and Tell Me More, and I found this page which really likes Tell Me More. But I don't know how much credibility to give that site, so I'd like a second opinion. Anyone with experiences to relate, warnings, or suggestions for a different choice entirely?