Pasta Problems
I love making pasta with different tomato sauces. However, I am plagued by a problem. When I put the sauce on the pasta to serve, there is a water separation on the plate. This occurs no matter how thick my tomato sauce is. What the hey?
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
Start Talking!
Need a question answered? Have advice to share? Start a Talk topic now!
Sign up to get your questions answered and share advice.
8 Comments:
did you shake the water off the pasta well enough?
gastronomeg at 11:10AM on 08/27/09
Don't overcook the pasta and drain it well (pour into colander and give it a couple of shake-tosses to remove excess water) before adding sauce.
Question- does the sauce seperate on it's own on a plate? If it does, it's your sauce recipe. If it doesn't, go back to the draining pasta advice.
Good luck. Let us know what you've discovered.
CJ McD at 11:14AM on 08/27/09
Can you try warming the sauce in a pan and tossing the pasta right into the sauce and letting it cook together for a few minutes? Some of the water will evaporate and the pasta will suck up a bit of the sauce. I find that this technique usually stops the separation problem.
laurelie at 11:26AM on 08/27/09
Take the pasta out of the boiling water a minute early and toss it into a pan with the sauce already simmering - then cook together til finished. There is no need to drain off the excess water, I usually just pull the pasta out with tongs (in fact I usually toss in some of the pasta water into my sauce to help finish it). This has a couple benefits, mainly that the pasta will absorb some of the sauce as it finishes cooking and that the starch from the pasta water will help to thicken the sauce while allowing the sauce to "stick" to the pasta.
misterhee at 11:35AM on 08/27/09
Do you use oil when cooking pasta, this is not necessary and will keep the condiment from sticking.
Cook the pasta about a minute before it is finished. Remove from water and transfer immediately to pan with condiment. Cook and toss for an additional minute, adding pasta water if it is too thick.
Shouldn't be any problems.
derosa at 11:46AM on 08/27/09
Here's my diagnosis:
a) pasta wasn't drained well
b) sauce didn't have enough time to "meld"
c) you're not draining the sauce ingredients enough
As some have suggested too: toss pasta and sauce in pan together before serving
hungrychristel at 12:37PM on 08/27/09
@Misterhee that ball was a homer simpson, cause the pitcher just went DOH!
Right on the money my man..... right on the money!
Pavlov at 9:24AM on 08/29/09
@lauralie and @misterhee both are on the money. I think the term for finishing pasta in the sauce is called mantecatura. It is always best to do this. Do not cook the pasta to al dente. Take it out before that and finish in the sauce with just a bit of the pasta water. Another trick is to use much less water than directed to cook you pasta. It will give you a starch enriched pasta water more like you would find in a restaurant situation. The heavier concentration of starch helps the sauce thicken, emulsify, or bond depending on the sauce and the specific shape of pasta.
climbhighak at 10:11PM on 08/30/09