Posted on: Wednesday, July 28, 2004

Hot pasta releases flavors of tomato sauce

By Carole Kotkin
Knight Ridder News Service

You may think an Italian sauce needs to simmer for hours to develop robust flavor, but a fresh tomato sauce can be just as flavorful, and it's much better suited to summer, when ripe tomatoes are easier to hand.

The recipe here is one of my favorites. It combines the lively flavors of fresh basil, tomatoes and garlic with mellow olive oil and luscious mozzarella cheese. It's based on a traditional Sicilian dish, and relies on the hot pasta to melt the cheese and release the flavors and aromas of the other ingredients.

The recipe is equally good whether you make it with fresh or dried pasta. The best dried kind is made from semolina flour — coarsely milled, high-gluten durum wheat that gives pasta its firm texture when cooked. Fresh pasta is made with eggs rather than water and unbleached flour rather than semolina. It cooks quickly and is highly perishable, which is why you find it in the refrigerator case.

There are two pitfalls to pasta cooking — sticky strands and overcooking — that you can avoid with the right technique:

• Use a large pot (8 to 10 quarts) filled with 6 to 8 quarts of water. The large volume means the water will come back to the boil soon after you add the pasta, allowing it to float freely. (Don't put more than 2 pounds of pasta in a single pot; it won't cook and drain properly.)
• Once the water is boiling rapidly, add 1 tablespoon salt for proper flavor (most of it isn't absorbed).
• Don't add oil to the pot. It will coat the pasta and make the sauce slide off.
• Stir the pasta constantly with a long-handled spoon for a few minutes after adding it to the pot to prevent the strands from sticking together.
• Once the pasta softens, partially cover the pot for a vigorous boil.
• Fresh pasta cooks in just a minute or two, while dried pasta may need from 4 to 15 minutes, depending on its size and shape. Begin testing for doneness halfway through the cooking time recommended on the package. Use a fork to lift the pasta from the water, and bite to see if it's al dente (firm to the tooth). It's ready when it's tender but still slightly resistant.
• Immediately drain cooked pasta in a colander, shaking the water out just once or twice so that some moisture is retained.
• Don't rinse pasta unless instructed by the recipe. Rinsing washes away the surface starch, which helps to thicken the sauce.
• Serve pasta in shallow soup bowls that have been warmed (use the dish-washer drying cycle). Flat plates allow the pasta to cool off too quickly, and they have no edge against which to brace your fork for twirling.
• Suggested menu: Serve this pasta dish with a green salad, crusty bread and a fruity red wine such as an Italian Montepulciano d'Abruzzo.

• Per serving: 503 calories (34 percent from fat), 19 g fat (6.4 g saturated, 9.4 g monounsaturated), 29.9 mg cholesterol, 19.5 g protein, 63.7 g carbohydrates, 3.7 g fiber, 638 mg sodium.