Cooking Pasta

We rarely have pasta because I hate to cook it. The huge pan of water, draining, and then the clean up. Last year, a product called Pasta N' More came out and I watched it closely, bad reviews told me not to order it. This year, another product came to my attention called, Fasta Pasta. The reviews were great and I ordered it. Tonight, I pulled two pasta sauces out of my freezer, added some meatballs, and simmered while cooking the Linguine in my Fasta Pasta. This product holds pasta and water for a serving of four people. It cooked in the microwave for 14 minutes and was perfect! We are thrilled, because now we can cook pasta for the two of us and not have the mess with the big pasta cooker. The instructions were easy to follow, and very detailed. The plastic used in cooking has been declared safe. Since we eat so little pasta, this is going to work for us, very well.

We rarely have pasta because I hate to cook it.

!!??

I've never heard that. Pasta has always seemed to be one of the easiest (and of course most delicious) meals to make.

But, nice that you have a new method.

Interesting. I also find pasta to be one of the easiest and most convenient things I commonly cook. Of course, I really love the stuff so maybe I just don't mind the cooking process that much.

I also used to dread cleaning up after a pasta dinner, so lately we've been doing the following:

We use one of the big stockpots where the cover has wholes and locks in place, so I drain it straight from there, no colander.

stockpot.jpg

I also reheat the sauce in a pan and add the cooked pasta to the pan. I plate in the kitchen, no more big platters family style, anyone who wants seconds can go to the kitchen and serve oneself.

Cooking the pasta was not the job I disliked, it was the vessel used. I have a big pasta pot with another vessel inside with holes in it for draining. I even had a pot filler installed next to my stove so I would not have to carry the large pot of water to the stove (issues with hands) plus it takes forever to boil. Gene always carries the hot pot back over to the sink area,and lifts up the inside vessel so the pasta can drain. Then you have these two large things to wash and put away. The Fasta Pasta is much easier for our lifestyle....and may be for other families of two....is what I was trying to say. It stores in one of my drawers in the kitchen nicely. Love it, it also has a little recipe book for doing veggies and other things. I bet it would be great for second homes or hunting cabins. It holds enough pasta for four servings. I just can't believe how the pasta came out so perfect in such a little amount of water, and we like our pasta al dente.

Similar to Jacques' post, depending on the shape of the pasta, sometimes I cook it, uncovered, in my pressure cooker. Then with the rubber gasket removed, the lid locks in place loosely for simple draining. Works good with elbows, shells, bow-ties, etc.

We cook for two as well and enjoy pasta two or three times a week. If we are using short pasta we cook a half pound in a three quart stainless saucepan, and drain it through the smallest of a three piece stand alone strainer set. Both pieces go easily into the dishwasher. We do have to use a larger pot for the long pasta, but it goes into the dishwasher too.

Cooking the pasta was not the job I disliked, it was the vessel used. I have a big pasta pot with another vessel inside with holes in it for draining. I even had a pot filler installed next to my stove so I would not have to carry the large pot of water to the stove (issues with hands) plus it takes forever to boil. Gene always carries the hot pot back over to the sink area,and lifts up the inside vessel so the pasta can drain. Then you have these two large things to wash and put away. The Fasta Pasta is much easier for our lifestyle....and may be for other families of two....is what I was trying to say. It stores in one of my drawers in the kitchen nicely. Love it, it also has a little recipe book for doing veggies and other things. I bet it would be great for second homes or hunting cabins. It holds enough pasta for four servings. I just can't believe how the pasta came out so perfect in such a little amount of water, and we like our pasta al dente.

I see. I used to have one of the big pots with the insert, but I quit using it as it seemed to require much more water than a regular pot. I just dump it all in a colander in the sink when it's cooked (saving a bit of the cooking water for sauce purposes). Pasta then goes back in the pot. The colander gets a quick rinse right way which usually gets any starchy stuff off.

I do understand not wanting to deal with the big pot, though. Heavy containers full of boiling water are not the safest things in the world.

The first time pasta was cooked was on Mount Sinai. Moses had arrived in order to receive the 10 commandments. Think about it though......climbing Mt Sinai at the age of 70 was no easy chore and somewhere about halfway up the mountain Moses was hungry. Being a loving Lord, a fire had been prepared on the mountain (some call that "the burning bush").

What is not as well known is that over the burning bush was a grill and on that a quite large double pot filled with water. An angel (no doubt one of the quite minor angels) instructed Moses simply to toss the pasta into the pot, to let it boil gently until the pasta was al dente and then to drain it (not over the burning bush whose flame could not be extinguished at any rate) and then to toss in whatever sauce the angel had prepared.

If it was good enough for Moses, its good enough for me! If God had wanted Moses to heat his pasta in a mircowave oven that oven would have been invented some 5,700 years ago.

Ye faithful old-fashioned curmudgeon.
Rogov

Ah, but a very nice and respectful "old-fashioned curmudgeon", who adds charm, wit, and color to our site. I like that.

climbing Mt Sinai at the age of 70 was no easy chore

He should have sprinted up Mt. Sinai since he lived to be 120, which would be approx. 44 years old given today's average life span for males

curmudgeonly yours,

Drew

I love pasta and like the ritual. I use my pentola even when just cooking for two.

In fact I'll probably use it today to make chili for a bunch of hungry guys working on the crush pad at Stone Wolf.

[Robin Garr]

If it was good enough for Moses, its good enough for me

So, this is the real reason that he came down from the mountain with his face shining? Good pasta will do that ...

I love pasta and like the ritual. I use my pentola even when just cooking for two.

In fact I'll probably use it today to make chili for a bunch of hungry guys working on the crush pad at Stone Wolf.

Chef, what exactly is your pentola? If it is a gal/guy thing, I don't want to know! Tell Linda I said hello. BTW, I sure hope you don't use celery (holy trinity) in uour chili/ beans? are ok, but celery? no way, no how!

Frankly I don't consider the basic preparation of pasta and the clean up to be be a lot of work.
- IMHO the act of preparing a boil-in-a-bag or microwave-in-a-bag meal isn't cooking. In most cases this activity is really the reheating of previous prepped and prepared foods.
- The act of washing a pasta pot, it's cover and a strainer IMHO is not a lot of work and in fact these are some of the easiest and the fastest to wash implements used in preparing a meal. Cleaning a frying pan, mixing bowl or a baking dish requires more effort and can soil the wash water so that it must be changed before washing anything else.

Not to be critical but if cooking pasta is a lot of work and requires a lot of clean up then preparing a sausage by heating it in water must also really be an effort!

If my living circumstances were that-
I had to draw the water,
carry it in the house,
build the fire prior to preparation,
boil the water,
add salt to the water
cook the pasta,
drain the pasta,
draw more water,
heat more water,
pour the heated water into a dish pan,
wash the utensils used (especially the soot covered pot),
and dispose of the wash and rinse water,
then I think preparing pasta would be a lot of work and require some effort.

Also IMHO actually making pasta from scratch and cleaning up afterwards is a lot of work.

I love pasta and like the ritual. I use my pentola even when just cooking for two.

In fact I'll probably use it today to make chili for a bunch of hungry guys working on the crush pad at Stone Wolf.

Chef, what exactly is your pentola? If it is a gal/guy thing, I don't want to know! Tell Linda I said hello. BTW, I sure hope you don't use celery (holy trinity) in uour chili/ beans? are ok, but celery? no way, no how!

Here's one, Bob.

http://www.kitchenclique.com/5807.html

No, no celery. I've judged a few chili contests - my chili is what I've learned from the participants.

I'll say hi to Linda for you.

Frankly I don't consider the basic preparation of pasta and the clean up to be be a lot of work.

Well thankfully you did not have to endure the severe arm injury Karen was put through this year. So perhaps what you do not think is much work might be a painful chore for her.

Frankly I don't consider the basic preparation of pasta and the clean up to be be a lot of work.

Well thankfully you did not have to endure the severe arm injury Karen was put through this year. So perhaps what you do not think is much work might be a painful chore for her.

I'm trying to recall when arm injuries were mentioned as reasons for not cooking pasta? Can't come up with it right now.

I've had my share of "injuries" - broken shoulder, broken sternum etc. Never dissuaded me from cooking pasta - or loving to.

??????

I see. I used to have one of the big pots with the insert, but I quit using it as it seemed to require much more water than a regular pot. I just dump it all in a colander in the sink when it's cooked (saving a bit of the cooking water for sauce purposes). Pasta then goes back in the pot. The colander gets a quick rinse right way which usually gets any starchy stuff off.

Ditto that for me, verbatim.

I do understand not wanting to deal with the big pot, though. Heavy containers full of boiling water are not the safest things in the world.

I agree. What's worse though is a full and hot Le Creuset pot. It's probably needless worry, but I'm always afraid one of the handles is going to snap off and that the whole thing will fall on one of our dogs (both of whom love to hang out in the kitchen while I'm cooking.)

Regarding the pot fillers at the stove, we have one too. I think they are pretty useless. As you said, Karen, someone still needs to empty the full pot at the sink. Plus, since it gets used so infrequently, I don't think of the water coming out of it as fresh...I would want to run it for a minute or two before using, then that defeats the purpose.

Frankly I don't consider the basic preparation of pasta and the clean up to be be a lot of work.

Well thankfully you did not have to endure the severe arm injury Karen was put through this year. So perhaps what you do not think is much work might be a painful chore for her.

Well. Dave December 2007 left rotator cuff surgery (4 torn muscles stiched and one had to reattached with bone screw), June 2008 -emergency lower back surgery, April 2009 right rotator cuff surgery (repair of massive tear , unable to reattach the shredded bicep), and August 2009- emergency back surgery again I guess isn't having too endure much.

I didn't see any mention in the post concerning physical disabilities.

Frankly I don't consider the basic preparation of pasta and the clean up to be be a lot of work.

Well thankfully you did not have to endure the severe arm injury Karen was put through this year. So perhaps what you do not think is much work might be a painful chore for her.

Well. Dave December 2007 left rotator cuff surgery (4 torn muscles stiched and one had to reattached with bone screw), June 2008 -emergency lower back surgery, April 2009 right rotator cuff surgery (repair of massive tear , unable to reattach the shredded bicep), and August 2009- emergency back surgery again I guess isn't having too endure much.

Sorry to hear about that but I just did not think this was the appropriate thread for men whining about their wounds after Karen mentioned at least twice in the past year how she had a full-arm cast and perhaps that is why carrying a heavy pot of boiling water is too much for her and she prefers the new device.

Whining? Men? I didn't see anybody whining. You're the one who brought up physical reasons for not cooking pasta in the traditional manner?

I must admit that I had never heard of Fasta Pasta before reading this post.
I must further admit to a perverse pride that there are no sales outlets in my home state of Massachusetts.

I must admit that I had never heard of Fasta Pasta before reading this post.
I must further admit to a perverse pride that there are no sales outlets in my home state of Massachusetts.

It's good to see a new face, or should I say a new typeface on the forum. I too have never seen a Fasta Pasta in my hometown. Not sure though that it is a bad thing. If one came to town, I might even give it a once over. Without getting into injuries precluding lifting a pot of hot water and pasta (legitimate reason IMO) I do think that cooking dried or fresh pasta is as easy as cooking gets. Welcome to the forum