The Art of Marrying Pasta and Sauce: Creating Disharmony for Deliciousness

Most people make pasta and sauce separately, without really thinking about how to bring them together to create a harmonious dish. This is where restaurants excel, but home cooks often struggle with achieving that same level of deliciousness. The key is to think of pasta like pizza - you want one or two extras, not a busy, overpowered mess. Your pasta doesn't need to be fancy, dry pasta can work just as well for many recipes.

When it comes to preparing your pasta, the type and quality of ingredients are crucial. You don't need the most basic of ingredients in your fridge to make an amazing pasta dish; with butter, parmesan, and garlic, you can create something truly delicious. What's important is that your pasta doesn't need to be busy - it just needs to be well-prepared.

The type of pasta you use also matters. Mark Ladner, the chef at Del Posto, always advises using a lot of salt in your pasta water, saying it should have the salinity of seawater. This helps to create a flavorful broth that complements the pasta perfectly. When cooking your garlic, be sure not to overheat it - this can lead to a burnt, bitter taste. Instead, let the garlic simmer until it's soft and sweet.

Once you've cooked your pasta, don't dump out the water! The pasta water is crucial in creating a rich, starchy sauce that complements the flavors of the dish. Think of the oil and garlic as your base - they provide the foundation for everything else to build on. When your pasta is almost done, take a scoop of the pasta water and pour it into the pan over heat. This helps to create an emulsion that will add depth and creaminess to your sauce.

Next, add a little butter to the pan to make the sauce "sea" and creamy. Then, take the pasta straight from the pot and toss it with the sauce until every strand is coated. This is where the magic happens - by adding the cheese at this point, you're really pulling the entire sauce together. And don't be afraid to use more cheese than you think you'll need - it's always better to have a little extra!

One of the best things about this technique is that it's versatile and adaptable. You can add different ingredients like broccoli, roasted cauliflower, or fennel to create a unique pasta dish. The possibilities are endless, and with a few basic ingredients, you can create something truly delicious. And let's be honest - who doesn't need an excuse to have more parmesan-reggiano on top of their pasta?

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enyeah the problem is most people make pasta and they make their sauce but they don't really marry the two together well and that's what it's all about it's about creating this disharmony between pasta and sauce and making it glossy and saucy and and luscious and delicious and that's what restaurants do so well and some of us home cooks struggle with if you have even the most basic of ingredients in your fridge some butter parmesan garlic you can make an amazing pasta I think of pasta like I do pizza you want one or two extras your pasta doesn't need to be busy it just needs to be well prepared you do not need to use fancy fresh pasta I mean dry pasta is great for pretty much most pastas that you're making especially something like Cacho Pepe would traditionally in Rome is served with dried pasta what you do need in your pasta water is a lot of salt as Mark Ladner the chef in Del Posto always says your pasta water should have the salinity of seawater like I'm putting like a handful I will pretty much start off every pasta with olive oil when a smashing garlic cloves put those in the pan let them simmer just till they turn brown and then turn the heat off put the top on and just let them sit for eight five or ten minutes so Louie soft and sweet as opposed to that sort of burnt bitter taste sometimes you get when your minced garlic and cook it over to high heat that's the last thing you want do not dump out the pasta water the pasta water is so important you want at least one good ladle full of pasta water this nice and starchy and salty and flavorful and that's essentially going to be your salts think of the oil and garlic as your base what you want to do next when your pasta is almost done take a scoop of the pasta water pour it in the pan over heat so the water and oil starts to sort of bubble together and emulsify add a little butter to sort of make it it's all sea and creamy and then take pasta straight from the pot into the pan and toss and toss and toss again until every strand is coated with this emulsification off goes the heat and at this point you can either take the pasta and add it to a big serving bowl or just in the pan add the cheese and that's what's really going to pull the entire sauce together I was going to use a little bit more cheese than you think you're going to use what's great about this technique is that it's basically a foundation for any pasta you can open a can of san marzano tomatoes crush that in there cook them for just a little bit with some chili peppers that turns into a beautiful sauce you can take some broccoli or you can roast some cauliflower or Oh some fennel add that to the pan it's the same technique but a million different possibilities and there my friends is a really delicious pasta and okay why not a little bit more parmigiano-reggiano right on top guess who doesn't need to eat dinner tonightyeah the problem is most people make pasta and they make their sauce but they don't really marry the two together well and that's what it's all about it's about creating this disharmony between pasta and sauce and making it glossy and saucy and and luscious and delicious and that's what restaurants do so well and some of us home cooks struggle with if you have even the most basic of ingredients in your fridge some butter parmesan garlic you can make an amazing pasta I think of pasta like I do pizza you want one or two extras your pasta doesn't need to be busy it just needs to be well prepared you do not need to use fancy fresh pasta I mean dry pasta is great for pretty much most pastas that you're making especially something like Cacho Pepe would traditionally in Rome is served with dried pasta what you do need in your pasta water is a lot of salt as Mark Ladner the chef in Del Posto always says your pasta water should have the salinity of seawater like I'm putting like a handful I will pretty much start off every pasta with olive oil when a smashing garlic cloves put those in the pan let them simmer just till they turn brown and then turn the heat off put the top on and just let them sit for eight five or ten minutes so Louie soft and sweet as opposed to that sort of burnt bitter taste sometimes you get when your minced garlic and cook it over to high heat that's the last thing you want do not dump out the pasta water the pasta water is so important you want at least one good ladle full of pasta water this nice and starchy and salty and flavorful and that's essentially going to be your salts think of the oil and garlic as your base what you want to do next when your pasta is almost done take a scoop of the pasta water pour it in the pan over heat so the water and oil starts to sort of bubble together and emulsify add a little butter to sort of make it it's all sea and creamy and then take pasta straight from the pot into the pan and toss and toss and toss again until every strand is coated with this emulsification off goes the heat and at this point you can either take the pasta and add it to a big serving bowl or just in the pan add the cheese and that's what's really going to pull the entire sauce together I was going to use a little bit more cheese than you think you're going to use what's great about this technique is that it's basically a foundation for any pasta you can open a can of san marzano tomatoes crush that in there cook them for just a little bit with some chili peppers that turns into a beautiful sauce you can take some broccoli or you can roast some cauliflower or Oh some fennel add that to the pan it's the same technique but a million different possibilities and there my friends is a really delicious pasta and okay why not a little bit more parmigiano-reggiano right on top guess who doesn't need to eat dinner tonight\n"