"Bob (this one)" > wrote in message
...
> John Gaughan wrote:
>
> > I tried whole wheat pasta the other day. My wife and I both think it
> > tastes good, but it does not hold sauce well. Most likely this is due to
> > the fact that it has less starch, which helps bond sauce to the pasta.
> >
> > Is this true of all whole wheat pasta? What brands do you guys
> > recommend? Any cooking tips, should I cook it differently than normal
> > pasta? Normally I boil it until al dente, rinse in hot water, and toss
> > in olive oil.
>
> Talking about one pound of pasta. Boil, drain, DON'T RINSE, toss with
> about 2 tablespoons butter so it doesn't stick together (drop the
> butter into the pot you cooked the pasta in; it'll still be warm
> enough to melt the butter quickly). Sauce at service on the plates.
> That way, the rest of the pasta (if any) can be used for other dishes
> with no regard for the sauce used for the first presentation.
>
> Butter will leave a surface better able to accept and hold sauce than
> oil will. Rinsing removes the surface starch that would
> (ever-so-slightly) thicken sauce that touches the pasta. 20% of butter
> is water and that helps retain the surface starch.
>
> Pastorio
>
This ignores the fact that the taste of butter is incompatible with many
sauces. Also, it seems unwise to compromise tonight's dish in order to have
unsauced pasta for tomorrow.


--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.