[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":86},["ShallowReactive",2],{"category-counts":3,"post-pasta-epiphany":6,"comments-pasta-epiphany":85},{"Cookery":4,"Photography":5,"Music":5,"Reading":5,"Art":5},1,0,{"id":7,"title":8,"body":9,"category":70,"date":71,"description":72,"extension":73,"image":74,"imageAlt":75,"meta":76,"navigation":77,"path":78,"published":77,"seo":79,"stem":80,"tags":81,"__hash__":84},"posts\u002Fposts\u002Fpasta-epiphany.md","A Pasta Epiphany",{"type":10,"value":11,"toc":65},"minimark",[12,21,24,37,44,47,50,57,62],[13,14,15,16,20],"p",{},"Ever since I started cooking pasta - and that means ever since I started cooking - I thought it meant filling the biggest pot you had with water, bringing it to the boil and cooking the pasta to within an inch of ",[17,18,19],"em",{},"al\ndente",", regardless of how many fistfuls of the stuff you had.",[13,22,23],{},"This obviously works, but there are a few drawbacks.",[25,26,27,31,34],"ul",{},[28,29,30],"li",{},"It takes ages for the water to boil",[28,32,33],{},"It fills the place with steam and steams up your windows",[28,35,36],{},"In 21st Century UK it costs a small fortune",[13,38,39,40,43],{},"A while back I started using orzo for what I'd loosely call risotto type pasta dishes, and I liked it plumpy and mushy, definitely not ",[17,41,42],{},"al dente",". One day I thought, why all the boiling, why all the timing? I'll just stick it in some boiling water, turn the heat off and leave it - as I would do with rice. Small pot, quicker, cheaper, less supervision. Ideal lazy cooking.",[13,45,46],{},"Ok. That's the epiphany. But wait, there's more!",[13,48,49],{},"Once adopting this approach to orzo, which is a bit of an outlier in the pasta family, I thought why not just do this with all my pasta cooking? It works, although you need to take a bit of care if texture is important, such as something like linguine with prawns etc.",[13,51,52,53,56],{},"One important side effect. I've always been aware of the top chefs talking about using some spoonfuls of pasta water to get a nice sheen with your sauce and pasta. Could never get it to work because my giant pot of boiling water was too dilute. No starch. With a small pot, the cooking water is nicely concentrated. Voila. Or ",[17,54,55],{},"ecco fatto",", I should say",[58,59,61],"h2",{"id":60},"caveat","Caveat",[13,63,64],{},"This relates mainly to dried durum pasta and works best for small quantities. If you are cooking 500g of spaghetti for a dinner party you need the big boiling pot for even cooking",{"title":66,"searchDepth":67,"depth":67,"links":68},"",2,[69],{"id":60,"depth":67,"text":61},"Cookery","2026-07-26","Why I was doing it wrong for years and how I found the benefits of ditching a giant pan of boiling water for every pasta dish.","md",null,"A pan of ragu simmering next to a pot of pasta.",{},true,"\u002Fposts\u002Fpasta-epiphany",{"title":8,"description":72},"posts\u002Fpasta-epiphany",[82,83],"pasta","cooking techniques","LRPCH7NZ4FJ-UTEq892YQDpLZWsLvj8fP1LYofPSSgM",[],1786520200259]