[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":86},["ShallowReactive",2],{"category-counts":3,"posts-tag-pasta":6},{"Cookery":4,"Photography":5,"Music":5,"Reading":5,"Art":5},1,0,[7],{"id":8,"title":9,"body":10,"category":71,"date":72,"description":73,"extension":74,"image":75,"imageAlt":76,"meta":77,"navigation":78,"path":79,"published":78,"seo":80,"stem":81,"tags":82,"__hash__":85},"posts\u002Fposts\u002Fpasta-epiphany.md","A Pasta Epiphany",{"type":11,"value":12,"toc":66},"minimark",[13,22,25,38,45,48,51,58,63],[14,15,16,17,21],"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 ",[18,19,20],"em",{},"al\ndente",", regardless of how many fistfuls of the stuff you had.",[14,23,24],{},"This obviously works, but there are a few drawbacks.",[26,27,28,32,35],"ul",{},[29,30,31],"li",{},"It takes ages for the water to boil",[29,33,34],{},"It fills the place with steam and steams up your windows",[29,36,37],{},"In 21st Century UK it costs a small fortune",[14,39,40,41,44],{},"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 ",[18,42,43],{},"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.",[14,46,47],{},"Ok. That's the epiphany. But wait, there's more!",[14,49,50],{},"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.",[14,52,53,54,57],{},"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 ",[18,55,56],{},"ecco fatto",", I should say",[59,60,62],"h2",{"id":61},"caveat","Caveat",[14,64,65],{},"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":67,"searchDepth":68,"depth":68,"links":69},"",2,[70],{"id":61,"depth":68,"text":62},"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":9,"description":73},"posts\u002Fpasta-epiphany",[83,84],"pasta","cooking techniques","LRPCH7NZ4FJ-UTEq892YQDpLZWsLvj8fP1LYofPSSgM",1786520200270]