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Food Survival: Pasta

Pasta Basics

By Jessica WileyPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
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Photo by Jakub Kapusnak on Unsplash

The first series of articles will be called "Food Survival," specifically for helping those who may not know how to cook. The aim of these will be to give out the basics and slowly expand on them. As a teenager, I know many that when they move out, they'll be kind of screwed when it comes to cooking their own food; this was the inspiration for this series. So let's dive in to one of my favorite meals: pasta.

First and foremost, there are many types of pasta, but for the most part, shape doesn’t matter for what you’re cooking. Unless you want to get a certain type of pasta that you want to stuff, you can pretty much choose any shape you want.

Some basics for making pasta are:

  • Bring water to a hard boil then put in pasta
  • Boil for 8 minutes for al dente
  • Salt the water for flavor
  • (Optional) Use oil or butter to prevent sticking

There are different types of pasta for different needs. These pastas come in all the same shapes as normal pasta, but some are made with whole wheat, and others are made with vegetables. Whole wheat pasta tends to have more fiber and less calories than regular pasta, while veggie pasta is slightly higher in protein and less in calories than normal pasta. Veggie pasta is a good alternative to normal pasta if you have gluten allergies or are vegan or vegetarian.

Once you have the things down, all you really need to do is make sauce. For extremely novice cookers, I recommend simply bringing a pre-made sauce to a simmer for about 10 minutes in a shallow saucepan. I personally like the classico sauces, as they have much variety and don't taste as if you simply heated them up.

Herbs can also be added to pre-made sauce to make it your own. Things such as basil, thyme, and garlic give it a fresher taste. Meat is also a great addition. Ground beef or turkey work very well, and cut up chicken is amazing too. When adding meat, it's usually best to use frozen meat and thaw it out for a few hours before you plan on cooking if you want a quick and easy meal.

Even adding these extra ingredients is easy, for ground beef and turkey, simply cook it over medium heat in a saucepan until browned (draining the fat is optional) and add the sauce to the pan and simmer. Chicken takes a little more work. You can either sautée it in a pan and then cut it into small pieces, or if you're feeling extra laid back, microwave it until heated through and then cut and add to your sauce. I will warn though, that the latter option may leave your chicken dryer. If you go with the pan cooked option, make sure to put about a tablespoon of olive or vegetable oil in the pan and cook over medium low heat. Cook for about 3–5 minutes on each side.

To keep it more simple or authentic Italian, simply boil your pasta, then drain and drizzle on a little olive oil and parmesan. Basil and other herbs can be added to this variation as well.

Tip: White sauces go better with cut up chicken while red sauces taste better with ground beef and turkey

Tip: Al dente means firm when bitten, so your pasta shouldn't be mushy, but it shouldn't still be crunchy either

Tip: Molto al dente means the pasta is slightly undercooked, this is used when pasta is going to be cooked twice. For example, if you're going to cook pasta and then cook it further in a sauce, you would want it molto al dente at first.

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About the Creator

Jessica Wiley

I'm a teenager with a love for cooking trying to teach others how to cook and have fun doing it. I also love Kermit.

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