Is there an STW approved dry pasta that magically makes the most hum drum spagbol or tuna pasta bake into an Instabanger taste sensation or is all 50p a bag pasta much of a muchness?
Needs to be Bronze Die pasta.
De Cecco is as good as it gets for factory pasta, la Molisana is good too but not as widespread. It's definitely worth steering clear of the very cheap stuff imo.
Rigatoni... Any brand
The difference between a good pasta and an indifferent one amounts to about 15p a serving. Though I expect the £1 or so difference per meal to feed a family is very real for some these days
This is probs my favourite.
https://www.adimaria.co.uk/pappardelle-alluovo-500g
Or the De Cecco version if you're feeling fancy.
Bucatini is fun also 🙂
Bronze pasta, this link is pretty good on why and what's what.
50p is an unbranded bso
A bit more gets you something like a Boardman, which is a world apart
A bit more gets you a trek or a specialized
Anything over that, it's better but diminishing returns
Tesco finest Gigli is nice. As is their Orecchiette. Waitrose do a nice Trofie dried pasta, and their Bucatini. Can’t say I’ve tried any of them in a tuna bake but other recipes are available.
If you listen closely OP you can hear Carluccio spinning in his grave. Ragu sauce goes with tagliatelle not spaghetti, more sauce sticks to the wider pasta.
Tuna pasta bake was a child staple and I can no longer face it as the boy would eat it 7 times a week of he could when younger!!
I used to use fancy pastas but Waitrose Essentials is OK for me these days.
There are only 2 types of pasta, fresh or dried.
But looking at the links above the ingredients are the same as the 50p stuff only it's in fancy shapes.
Is fancy pasta the equivalent of fancy speaker cables?
For ages I thought 'Bronze Die Pasta' was just a fancy name for a specific type of pasta (say it in an Italian accent).
Then last year, at the age of 39 I realised it was just pasta pushed through a die made of bronze.
I'm perfectly happy with the 20p budget supermarket spaghetti when I can find it nowadays! Breaks my heart that I can only find the 40p stuff at the moment 😡
tuna pasta bake
You've given me uni nostalgia, after living off this I think I have finally given myself enough of a break to eat it again (15 years).
But looking at the links above the ingredients are the same as the 50p stuff
Chateau Lafite 62 has the same ingredients as Blue Nun.
De Cecco is decent; Giuseppe Cocco is better.
I’m perfectly happy with the 20p budget supermarket spaghetti when I can find it nowadays!
Well, if you either can't tell the difference between the cheap stuff and its pricier equivalent, or just don't think the difference is worth paying for you'd be daft to pay more.
I don't think the taste is that different, the most important thing is to cook it well. Plenty of water and plenty of salt.
Don't forget a generous splash of olive oil or a smaller splash of truffle oil.
Tuna Pasta Bake? Isn't that what Helen made for Rob, just before she stabbed him?
A handy rule of thumb is to look at the texture; if it's smooth it's probably naff, good pasta is usually coarse from the bronze die.
I don’t think the taste is that different, the most important thing is to cook it well. Plenty of water and plenty of salt.
Yup. Pasta needs to be able to move around to cook evenly.
Don’t forget a generous splash of olive oil or a smaller splash of truffle oil.
Not really, unless it's part of the dish. Sauce is generally supposed to adhere to the pasta, not slide off it.
Don’t forget a generous splash of olive oil or a smaller splash of truffle oil.
Not really, unless it’s part of the dish. Sauce is generally supposed to adhere to the pasta, not slide off it.
That's a matter of opinion and, in my opinion, your opinion is wrong but...each to their own.
A handy rule of thumb is to look at the texture; if it’s smooth it’s probably naff, good pasta is usually coarse from the bronze die.
aaaah! that's what the bronze die thing is about {goes off to Google}
That’s a matter of opinion and, in my opinion, your opinion is wrong but…each to their own.
If you need oil in your pasta water you're possibly overcooking it or not using enough water. Y'know, in my opinion.
Though as I said, it depends on the dish. I do a garlic spaghetti whose primary ingredient (other than those two) is olive oil. Pre-lubed pasta n a bolognaise, not so much.
(I'm no chef but I eat a lot of pasta. Like, probably every other day.)
Oil goes in the sauce (if needed), not in the water.
I agree with the 'the brand of pasta is less important than the way you cook it' school. LOTS of boiling water. Salt. Time. Not a lot else.
However, getting the right shape of pasta for your sauce is a whole other can of worms...
Spaghetti is just annoying. Penne or the twisty ones for me.
The différence between good and bad pasta is the number of eggs per kilogramme of flour. The more the better, 10 is the max in fresh pasta.
Oil in the water is to prevent the pasta clumping- thats all. Only needs a small amount
Biggest pan you've got is what I've found helps the most.
Always use the big 5 litre pan with a good couple of litres in it. Unless I'm just doing pasta for one.
The bronze die stuff is noticeably better IME, and the cost difference per meal is trivial unless you're on a really tight budget.
According to an Italian friend - the key is the protein content. 12% is the minimum, that'll be OK, but the good stuff has around 14% protein.
It works for me...
Oil in the water - nope. Make sure your truffle oil actually has truffle in it also, most supermarket stuff doesn't.
Your rarely see Italians adding olive oil to the pan of water. A pinch of salt yes but oil no. I think it's a TV chef affectation
Lots of nice pasta out there. Just try some with different rougher textures as the sauce clings to it better
Pasta water should be as salty as the sea
Keep a little bit of cooking water when you drain the pasta
Add the pasta to the sauce, not the other way round and then add the cooking water back in slowly on a medium heat. Shake the wet sauce liberally round the pasta. The oil from the sauce and water will coat the pasta and make it properly textured.
You can thank me later
I used to put oil in the pasta water. Think it was a relic from seeing Delia or someone like that do it.
Never do it now. If you watch the Italian chefs (Gennaro, Giro etc) they never do it.
Biggest pan. Loads of water. Loads of salt.
Tonights tuna (and sweetcorn) pasta bake is going to be epic!
Thanks STW
I put a tiny bit of oil in, stops the water foaming and boiling over - nowhere near enough to coat the pasta though.
I put a tiny bit of oil in, stops the water foaming and boiling over
Or use a bigger pan.
Olive oil is used in cooking the sauce or a little to dress pasta after cooking (depending on the dish) or the dish when serving but not needed in the pasta water.
I do a garlic spaghetti whose primary ingredient (other than those two) is olive oil.
Aglio e Olio.Yum. Had it last night with black pepper and a few chilli flakes.
Aglio e Olio.Yum. Had it last night with black pepper and a few chilli flakes
About as simple and delicious as it gets. Try it with your supermarket's value range pasta, then try it with De Cecco. If you really can't tell the difference celebrate your 15p per portion saving. If you can tell the difference, marvel at how spending so little extra has enhanced your life.
No oil in the water necessary but why not if you want to? As for the amount of egg in pasta as a mark of quality - some pasta is made with egg, some isn't. It's just a different recipe producing a different pasta, neither is inherently better.
Olive did a Review of this recently and the Rummo pasta was the winner. Saying that, I also like the Bronze Die Rigatoni stuff.
Olive did a Review of this recently
Didn't she die this week?
For some reason I find there's a big difference in flavour between the different shapes of dried pasta. I tend not to enjoy the spiral or tube ones very much but I like linguine, spaghetti and tagliatelli.
I once heard (probably on this forum) that Italians use dried pasta for tomato-based sauces and fresh for cream-based. This makes sense to me.
After Christmas I found we had a couple of Aldi lobster tails in the freezer so I decided to make a lobster linguine. I started by poaching the tails in a mix of white wine and water, and because I didn't want to waste the poaching liquid now it had been infused with the flavour of the shells I used it to boil the fresh linguine. Eeee, it were reet good!
