Pasta: Difference between revisions

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=====This Is the Perfect Pan for Pasta=====

[https://www.seriouseats.com/best-pasta-pan by Daniel Gritzer 9/4/25 serious eats]

It took me years, but I have finally tracked down the perfect pasta pan.

Many reading this will misunderstand what I'm talking about. I'm not referring to the pot in which the pasta itself is boiled. Yes, the vessel you choose for cooking noodles matters: You need something just big enough to contain the pasta, but not by much, to maximize the starchiness of your pasta water for making better sauces.* But many different pots and pans can work for that. That's right, contrary to popular belief, you do not want to boil your pasta in a massive pot of ample water.

The pan I'm talking about is the one in which you finish the pasta. That is, by far, the most important pan in your pasta arsenal. And not having the right one has long been a pain in my pasta-making ass. Let's back up.

=====The Food Lab's No-Boil Baked Ziti Recipe=====

[https://www.seriouseats.com/food-lab-no-boil-baked-ziti-recipe by J. Kenji López-Alt 10/12/25 serious eats]

Here's something I've always wondered: When baking pasta, as in, say, lasagna or baked ziti, why do you always cook the pasta first? Aren't you inviting trouble by cooking it once, then proceeding to put it in a casserole and cooking it again? Well, there's the obvious first part of the answer to this question: Pasta needs to absorb water as it cooks—a lot of water, around 80 percent of its own weight when perfectly al dente. So, add raw pasta directly to a baked pasta dish, and it will soften all right—it'll also suck up all of the moisture from the sauce, leaving it dry or broken.

Pasta: Difference between revisions

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@@ Line 190: / Line 190: @@
 =====This Is the Perfect Pan for Pasta=====
-[https://www.seriouseats.com/best-pasta-pan by  Daniel Gritzer 9/4/25 serious eats]
+[https://www.seriouseats.com/best-pasta-pan by Daniel Gritzer 9/4/25 serious eats]
   It took me years, but I have finally tracked down the perfect pasta pan.
 Many reading this will misunderstand what I'm talking about. I'm not referring to the pot in which the pasta itself is boiled. Yes, the vessel you choose for cooking noodles matters: You need something just big enough to contain the pasta, but not by much, to maximize the starchiness of your pasta water for making better sauces.* But many different pots and pans can work for that. That's right, contrary to popular belief, you do not want to boil your pasta in a massive pot of ample water.
 The pan I'm talking about is the one in which you finish the pasta. That is, by far, the most important pan in your pasta arsenal. And not having the right one has long been a pain in my pasta-making ass. Let's back up.
+=====The Food Lab's No-Boil Baked Ziti Recipe=====
+[https://www.seriouseats.com/food-lab-no-boil-baked-ziti-recipe by J. Kenji López-Alt 10/12/25 serious eats]
+ Here's something I've always wondered: When baking pasta, as in, say, lasagna or baked ziti, why do you always cook the pasta first? Aren't you inviting trouble by cooking it once, then proceeding to put it in a casserole and cooking it again? Well, there's the obvious first part of the answer to this question: Pasta needs to absorb water as it cooks—a lot of water, around 80 percent of its own weight when perfectly al dente. So, add raw pasta directly to a baked pasta dish, and it will soften all right—it'll also suck up all of the moisture from the sauce, leaving it dry or broken.