Traveling w/ Pasta...

I know the title suggests some sort of Steinbeckian / Italian road trip, but our local wine group is hosting a tasting in a members home that is literally a 50 mile one way trip for us. This is the yearly wine & food pairing contest.

I was leaning towards a version of the Ragu recipe Robin posted a couple of weeks ago. Using a freshly grilled ribeye or NY strip as the meat addition. But how would I cook, then travel w/ cooked pasta? Without the pasta turning to mush?

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Richard

I would transport the sauce and cooked pasta in separate, insulated containers. Cook the pasta el dente (Jenise posted about this in an earlier thread - if it says to cook for 8 minutes for el dente, only cook it 5). Then toss the pasta with a bit of EVOO and some of the strained sauce to keep it from sticking together. I believe a heavier pasta such as ziti would work better than spaghetti. Hmmmm... gnocci might be fun too.

to a family reunion. This was in an ice chest for 1 1/2 days and in the refer for another day. I made it right before we left, cooled it well before putting into the ice chest. Family members loved it and everyone wanted the recipe, even a stuffy aunt. The pasta did not get mushy. No one died either.

REC: Texas party spaghetti. Men & kids love this - it can be made ahead and reheated beautifully - it feeds >>>>
a crowd - it is delicious - it is good for a
buffet - and all you need with it is a big
salad and lots of crusty bread. Now this
doesn't pretend to be an Italian-type dish --

2 1/2 lb. ground round
4 or more to taste garlic cloves, minced
2-16 oz. cans of tomatoes
1-10 oz can of Rotel (tomatoes & peppers)
8 oz of sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped green olives
1/2 cup chopped ripe olives
1 med. onion, chopped
2 lbs. American cheese, cubed
1 lb. package of spaghetti, cooked
1 lb. bacon, cooked crispy & crumbled
salt & pepper to taste

Brown the meat and toss in the garlic cloves
at the end for a couple of minutes. Mix all
the other ingredients together gently, and
you need a huge bowl - I have a monster
pottery bowl I use. Pour into a large baking
dish, or use 2 smaller ones, and bake for
35-40 minutes at 350 degrees. Serve with
grated parmesan cheese.

This is another recipe you can tinker with.
I use a lot more onion that the recipe called
for. The original recipe didn't call for
garlic. If your local supermarket doesn't
carry Rotel, throw in another can of tomatoes
and chop up some hot peppers to suit your
taste.

This is a good buffet dish, because it
doesn't need a knife and you can eat standing
up if you have to. It is also a good dish to
take when someone is sick because it reheats
well.

[Robin Garr]

But how would I cook, then travel w/ cooked pasta? Without the pasta turning to mush?

Richard, is there any way you could make the sauce, then take dry pasta and cook it at the other end of the road? Or even take store-bought fresh pasta, which cooks even more quickly? If you can get access to a pot, water and a heating element or stovetop, this would certainly be the easy way.

Alternatively, I guess I might cook pasta at home, stop when it's barely al dente, then hit it with cold water to stop cooking, toss it with olive oil and carry it in that state, reheating at destination. But if you can't even reheat at the far end, you might want to think about something other than pasta.

Could I cook the pasta, throw it into ice water (blanch it like veggies?), then drain it, toss with EVOO and take it that way?

I'd be transporting the sauce (after cooking ) in a crockpot for eventual reheating. I was thinking of topping the cooled pasta with a re-heated sauce?

Richard

[Robin Garr]

Could I cook the pasta, throw it into ice water (blanch it like veggies?), then drain it, toss with EVOO and take it that way?

I'd be transporting the sauce (after cooking ) in a crockpot for eventual reheating. I was thinking of topping the cooled pasta with a re-heated sauce?

Richard, that's pretty much what I suggested as a fallback, but I still think cooking the pasta at the last minute would be best. Is the problem that you're going to a place where you can plug in crockpots but not boil pasta water? Taking dried or fresh pasta and cooking it at the last minute really seems best. If you put hot sauce over cool pasta it might be okay, but it won't be delicious steaming hot pasta.

I would rather not have pasta if it has been boiled, rinsed, cooled and reheated then sauced. I know of no dried or fresh pasta that has a decent consistency when treated like that. My grandmother would exclaim " Che disastro !"
If you really can not boil and sauce there I would bring the pasta already sauced and reheat there having extra sauce for adding at the last minute. Seafood sauces especially are even better when the sauce, pasta and last drops of starchy water marry for awhile. Whenever possible I lift the pasta out of the boiling water when quite al dente directly into the sauce pan and let it finish cooking with the sauce.

In a situation like this I am more worried about the # of people that need to be served because even with heated plates it is impossible to keep the temperature until everyone is served and it is often awkward for people to begin eating right after they are served.

There could be up to 30 seperate dishes. I'd rather not tie up a burner in the hosts home. So maybe I need to re-think what I want to take.

Thanks for the help though. I'd rather change my mind than take a failed dinner.

Richard