My mother had one 4" frying pan (and a small sauce pot), and she cooked our spaghetti in that, also used for fried chicken, etc. Years after my husband and I divorced and my son was grown (a good cook like his mama and grandma 😊), he called and said his mom had passed away and asked if I would like to go through her kitchen stuff, that all was left was junk to the grown kids (in their 30's), him and two sisters, and I was welcome to what I wanted. My son and I went to her condo and pulled up outside the open garage. Family was upstairs raiding her belongings like rabid animals and sent me to the basement to go through the trash cans and dumpster. What did I find? The LeCreuset blue cookware their mother had cooked all their meals in, in perfect condition. My mouth fell open. My son, who could read my face, quickly handed me the pieces and I hurriedly carried them to the car: Two HUGE stew pots (one so big, I've never seen it offered that size for sale...HUGE), multiple fry pans, sauce pans, casseroles...OMG, it filled the entire hatchback of my little Chevy Geo, cookware probably worth well over a thousand dollars now, for sure. Not a chip in the enamel. I wrapped each piece up in a blanket I had in the car, and we continued digging. I salvaged many clay-pot type casseroles from Italy (no lead, I tested), which is what make me think of this story, similar to what I've seen you use, with beautiful designs painted on and luckily not damaged in the trash can, engraved Pyrex nearly 100 years old now that belonged to their grandmother, etc. I filled the car, emptied it out at home and came back, loaded it up again. In the bottom of the last trash can was Patti's recipe box given to her by her husband when the kids were little with her name engraved on it, all the family recipes neatly tucked away with love for decades destined for the dump. I hugged the box close, took it down to the car, wrapped it up safely in a blanket and have it to this day. I cook 3 large chickens for Winter soup for large gatherings in that large pot and, of course, pasta, just the way my mother-in-law did. I wonder often about that trip to the condo while I'm cooking her recipes in her pots and why family memories are discardable to so many. Thank you for the lesson on pots and pasta and bringing back these memories for me.
Le Creuset in a dumpster??? This is sacrilege. The stuff lasts a thousand years! It's the best cookware on the planet. Unbelievably sad is the recipes in the dumpster. Those are living legacies. A part of who the person was, who is gone. It's worse than if they threw her body in there. Those recipes are who that person IS, incarnate. Flavors gone forever in the local dump. It's how they live on, even more than memories. Because what you taste is still there, more than the scenes in your mind.😟
It's sad to me that they couldn't see not only the monetary value of these pieces, but the memories. I have my grandmother's original 1950's Betty Crocker cookbook and my grandmother's recipe box. I cherish them. I definitely have used that cookbook. I had to buy a 2nd edition when my mom was alive. I begged her for it then, not happening Robyn.🙂
My Italian father always said "The pasta waits for nobody" so they would have us sitting at the table while the pasta was in the pot! Thank you for these great tips!
My husband of 41 years always made me a special dish with left over pasta, he called Pasta Domani ( pasta tomorrow). He’d fry the left over pasta with sugo in oil and add cheese to it. As it fried to nearly burnt , it would have crunchy crust here and there. So yummy. Good to know creating a different dish out of left over pasta was ok!
There is something so wonderful about crispy pasta! Whenever I make one of my baked pasta dishes….like lasagna, baked ziti, etc., my family will reminds me to make sure I take the tin foil off early enough to make for crispy sides of which they all practically fight over. 🤣❤️ Have to admit to loving it too! And so now? Now I made myself hungry and I want to make a pan of my baked ziti…ugh! 🤦🏻♀️ Meanwhile, I have a meatloaf in the oven, and it’s just too late now for a game changer! And come to think of it…besides all that, I do happen to love my meatloaf! Alright then…..all is good and I’m grateful to have nice food here!
I am 68 (German/Czech), and only had issue with #9 as I have learned over time all those other wonderful truths about making pasta. Like Harper, I always felt uncomfortable eating before others were served, and ALWAYS to my dissatisfaction, the pasta dish would be either cold, or the texture had changed, or the taste wasn't right. So, I will no longer wait as you have given me the power! I am a grandmother (nonna)/great grandmother, and have the right to enjoy my pasta without waiting! Thank you! (but... probably will still feel a bit uncomfortable, but I'll get over it.) Great video, can't wait for the next installment.
Very good! I have worked in the kitchen, I am Italian and I cook for family and friends. I get angry with those who don't eat my dishes right away, when this is fundamental !!! I oblige them and I shout at them😅😅😅 Not just pasta! Even the meats, especially red. And above all the gnocchi and fresh homemade ravioli with creamy cheese-based condiments. If they cool down they are literally garbage !!! I don't want those who eat my kitchen to have that experience of the dish! Because it's not real !!
Turns out I was committing practically every pasta crime there is until I started watching your videos in the past couple of years. My mistakes still tasted pretty good, but the lessons I’ve learned really took it to the next level. Thank you, Eva!
Sorry Eva I like my spaghetti halfed. I dirty my water, i.try not to use salt. I turn the sauce, then spin the pasta. Trick confirmed by Lydia Bastianich.
Eva of Dasa: Rules on Pasta! Harper of Maine is hilarious to watch! Both of you: are talented story-tellers! Harper your cinematographer skills are very impressive !!!
I cooked my own pasta for the first time today because I was inspired by your video. I did everything as you said and it was amazing. I will never buy premade pasta sauce again. Now I want to try more recipes. You’ve really inspired me. Maybe the best thing I’ve ever tasted. I am so happy!
I normally agree with Eva about everything, but leftover pasta (particularly in a ragu) is awesome when re-heated. It takes on more flavour by absorbing the sauce and it develops great little crispy bits, like a lasagne. And futzing about re-purposing pasta with a Bechamel (as you do in the video on using leftovers) is a lot of extra effort for not much flavour gain. (And you're still re-heating it!). Just don't re-heat it in a microwave!
Here is one you missed...the water MUST be boiling before you add the pasta. My Mom always made awful pasta that would clump together. I hated it, had to fish out the clumps then get yelled at for wasting food. I did not learn to make pasta, til in my 30s, the right way. Love your work and thanks for the education. I now have 10 different types of the good white pasta and I think of their names in an Italian accent because of you.
@@maybee... she made rice that stuck together like a giant sludge marshmallow. GOOD rice has to start with cold h2o...short grain brown or white , that is. Basmati and instant probably have different methods.
She missed the basic chemistry that when you put the salt in the water stops boiling, until it boils again. This is not because the salt is cold, but because it raises the boiling point of water. That's why pasta in water with too few salt doesn't cook well, the temperature is wrong. It's the differences between a 100 degrees celsius and 110 degrees. That's why the water should be 'salt as the Mediterranean' which is a very salty sea.
I’m glad that you caught that and that you mention it. I think that Eva just took it for granted that you had to wait for a boil. She couldn’t imagine anyone not waiting. 😊
I would have to say, that the biggest, simplest, and easiest Pasta Grammar lesson I have learned since watching is the combination of cooking the pasta al dente in a large pot with well salted water while preparing a simple tomato (not tomato sauce from a can) sauce in a pan with chopped tomatoes (whatever is a fresh and available at the time), a little garlic, just a inch of salt for taste and olive oil. As the tomatoes cook I press them a bit to release their flavor. Depending on the mood I may add a sprinkle of other seasonings and maybe a little finely minced onion or shallots. When the sauce and the pasta are almost ready, scoop the pasta into the sauce and finish cooking together for a couple of minutes. I am also now a believer in adding the pasta water - as needed - into the sauce. It really does make it creamier. I would not have believed it until I tried. And as Harper testified, it takes just as long as the 'old' way (yes, I'm mid-western guilty of that), but tastes so much better. The only consequence is that I eat more of it! This is now my go-to pasta. Quick, easy and delicious.
before U of A shut down the dorms and the international students lost access to dining halls they made trips to the grocery and many were saying "I never cook before...we have nothing to cook with etc" I was helping a couple medical students with items from the high shelves and and gave them some simple things they could do with frozen veggies, chick pea pasta and a pasta from mexico.... along with hatch chiles, black beans and mexican cheeses (because this is what was left at the store). I was bombarded with cooking questions, questions about pans etc- had I known about your channel I would have recommended they watch.
Yesterday I was making pasta and I tested it, (I've almost always done that). But yesterday when I tested it, my first thought to myself was "My pasta will be ready in - 2 minutes". And I laughed - Thanks Eva.
I think you forgot to mention rinsing with cold water. There are people out there that rins the pasta with cold water, mix it with the sauce and the reheat it. Only rins with cold water if you want to stop the pasta from cooking to keep it al dente in case you make a cold pasta salade. The amount of salt dependence on the type of pasta and the type of sauce. So always taste!
@@CIAUSCOLOMAN Are you having a bad day? You’re agreeing with what he stated but you write that you disagree with his statement? So you agree with pasta being rinsed in cold water?
My Dad was in the military. My first memories are in Italy. The neighborhood ladies adopted my Mom and were kind enough to teach her pasta rules and how to make sauce. I grew up spoiled and blessed in terms of Italian food Even though I primarily grew up in NC.
I feel its losing the charm, the uniqueness of the channel. It's like being forced to delete her identity. Like Sofia Vergara, part of the charm is the "broken English/accent". I think it will get more boring. I prefer the full italian accent and broken English ....
I'm so glad you mentioned La Molisana! It's my favorite pasta because it is made in Italy, bronze die, and I can eat it without any gut problems even though I should be gluten-free. I think that's because durum wheat in Italy is farmed differently than in the United States.
We’ve heard that from a lot of gluten intolerant folks! It’s the same for dairy with Eva. She’s lactose intolerant in the US, has to be really careful with all dairy, but has zero problem in Italy 🤔
La Molisana is one of the best pastas you can find at the supermarket here in Italy, so you know you're getting the best you can get in a reasonable price range pretty much anywhere in the world.
@@PastaGrammar I'm also lactose intolerant and I find that when I'm traveling around Europe I walk a lot and eating cheese doesn't affect me as much. It's odd but other people on my family report the same. Walking More helps
@@holyolioli Lactose is a sugar, so it disappears during the aging process. Matured cheese like parmigiano or pecorino have virtually 0 quantity of lactose. On the other hand, Cow mozzarella, ricotta and any other fresh cheese has lactose. Whip cream has more (and since cream is used in various dishes when the cook is not able to do their job, this is why we intolerant to lactose often feel bad at restaurants). The same holds for spreadable cheese (which often contain a lot of cream). Interestingly, buffalo mozzarella has way less lactose. If you want to know how much lactose is in a cheese, read the nutritional info the amount of sugar: that’s essentially lactose.
@@GuidoOrefice76 Hi, thanks for the explanation but I already know that. What I'm talking about it that even when I eat creamy cheeses or ice cream I feel much better if I go for long walks
Ava, you have changed my pasta life. Granted I have to eat gluten free pasta, but I try to buy the best I can find that is made in Italy. I never overcook it and I always put my pasta into my homemade sauce and allow it to marry. I, and my family, have you to thank for this. Grazie bene 💕
I'm shocked there guys don't have more views. They put so much effort in to make their content original and well thought out. I've learned so much already and saved a fortune whilst eating better.
OMG..i remember when my daughter was having her first pasta. I was a single mum always on the run. I used to put cold water in the pot, add immediatly the pasta and a cover, set middle heat, set a timer with always some more minutes as i like ’al dente’. No salt as i thought it was unhealthy. Then i could do other things with my daughter. When it was cooked, we add cold cream cheese. I did that for years...Your channel is not only recipes, it teaches the basics in detailed fun videos. You both are talented. You created (your channel) such a library of knowledge. THANK YOU :)
you don't need to make a frittata with left over pasta just heat it up in a frying pan with high flame the cheese contained in that pasta will forma nice crust on it. NO Microwave!
The next day carbonara omelet is a life saver for those of us that have never been able to measure pasta portions. Love what you guys do! Keep up the good work!
Have been binging pasta grammar since discovering it about 9 days ago. I've made pasta prepared Eva's way for the past 7 nights and I've never eaten so well. And it's so dang easy! They've truly clarified, but more importantly simplified, Italian cooking for me.
This was great - I took notes to share with my family. Maybe this isn't a mistake, but it could be viewed as one since the video you did on it made so much sense and really upped my pasta game - using the right pasta for the dish planned. For instance, which one goes well with a meat sauce, a light sauce, a cheese sauce, soup, casserole, etc. What a much better experience since I've watched your video on that!! Buono!
Well before the advent of mobile phones, my father would stop at a phone booth to verify what time he would be home for dinner; that is, what time to put the pasta in the water. Great episode.
My late father would go to the Italian caffe every Sunday morning. Before cell phones, my late mom was that person: she had that # relegated to memory and would call to nag them to get him home as soon as she was putting the macaroni in the water! God I miss those days.
I'm in the Uk and the first spaghetti I saw (not in a tin!) was about two feet long, in paper packaging, and Buitoni rings a bell. It was the most exotic thing my mum ever tried cooking. If you don't know aout David Attenborough and the spaghetti trees, look it up -that's how unknown pasta was here.
UK also, and yes that pasta was what we ate! Nowadays getting proper long spaghetti is getting harder and harder in England, I have had to go to Amazon to get it !
You are teaching Americans what they have believed as correct and taken for granted for centuries, lol. I’m so glad that you do this without being ostentatious about your knowledge. I love your videos.
I made ALL of these mistakes too!! 🤣🤣 Right up until I discovered your channel. I showed my Mom and my sister. My sister went to strain the spaghetti noodles and my Mom and I both yelled Nooo!! She almost dropped the pot, we scared her so bad 🤣
The pain in her face when he described his pasta meal prep! 😂 You can tell there's true love *and* respect for the food. Idk if I'll stop microwaving leftovers, but I appreciated all these tips. Thanks for taking the time.
I've been cooking pasta for myself for 25 years and I've made every mistake in your video at one time or another. Just in the past 3 years I've learned to save pasta water. Love your videos I've learned so many new techniques from you guys. ❤ Oh except mistake #9 I cannot not eat my pasta right away 😋
Your channel and Vincenzo's Plate are two of my favorite food oriented channels! He has a great pasta selector video too. I was lucky to have learned so many great cooking tricks from both of my grandmothers who came from very different cultures. On my dads side learned great American Southern cooking. My grandmother on my mom's side was German and from her learned not only great German cooking but also making Sauerkraut and pickles from scratch. For many years she had lived next to a native Italian lady in Detroit and they taught each other how to prepare both of those cuisines. That kind of food fusion one of the great things coming out of the American immigrant experience.
Guys. This was epic. I really think I am going to need a year to master all of these because I was doing so much wrong ha ha! I'm grateful to learn! Thank you!
My father’s family immigrated from Calabria around 1920. Just found your channel and my wife and I have enjoyed the video does. We just started making our own fresh pasta.
I love reheated pasta, especially because the sauce is fully absorbed. It's delicious and has entire different flavor profile than that served fresh from the pan, in which the sauce is only partially absorbed. I think Rule 10 is purely a cultural preference. Just like Eva, my mother, born & raised in Scalea, Calabria can not understand why anyone would prefer reheated pasta.
We don't have a problem reheating pasta but it depends on a variety of factors... what kind of pasta is it? What kind of sauce? How do you reheat it? Usually "reheating" pasta involves some kind of transformative cooking, however basic, such as frying pasta e fagioli in a pan with some olive oil so it becomes crispy. Simply applying heat until the pasta is warm again is really the issue.
Absolutely agree. But I'll do that with care and only with certain kinds of pasta dishes, mostly tomato sauce or bolognese ragu. Never with anything like carbonara or any cream containing sauce, as reheating will break the cream into a mix of oil and clumps. Anyway, I'll put the pasta in a soup plate, add a few drops of water and cover with an identical soup plate. In the microwave at super low power for a few minutes. Water, cover, power. It just revives the dish without re-cooking it and it stays moist instead of drying like it would in a pan. Actually I just heated some spaghetti and cherry tomato leftovers for lunch just one hour ago and we literally fought for them. I must add it only works with high quality pasta that retain their al dente texture much better. Cheaper pasta will become soft and overcooked with this method.
This is a great video! I really appreciate Eva explaining the different mistakes I have been making for years! I have always been disappointed by my pasta dishes and have always wanted to know why I can never get them to taste as good as the restaurant. Now I will feel much more confident about my pasta and can’t wait to have people over for dinner!
being an Italian living abroad point 9 really hit me... I basically always end up eating alone my pasta as my wife and son always find something urgent to do when I put pasta on the table and they think that eating 5 or 10 minutes later won't make any difference. no matter that they know I'm going to cook pasta, no matter that I inform them that "pasta will be ready in 5 minutes" it always happens that there's some last minute more urgent case that need to be taken care of for both of them...
Wheres your obligatory Italian arguing and screaming "Mama Mia!" With full hand gestures!? Make a fuss. Make your feelings known. Say it upsets your Italian soul. Show more passion. Its disrespectful to you and pasta!
I cook for the family. Every day. When I call them, they better come sit at the table, hands washed. If anyone leaves the table or fails to come for some stupid reason, I personally throw their dish away and they skip dinner. I use top notch ingredients, it's expensive and it takes a lot of time. Showing respect is the least they can do
Pasta crimes! 😆 I'm guilty of pouring the sauce over pasta. I still like doing it if the sauce is really thick. We never poured sauce straight from the jar, we always cooked it down first.
I remember watching a vid of you and Eva cooking Scarpariello 05 months ago. Totally changed my life on cooking (and eating) pasta. Since then, I've made it a POINT to always eat pasta cooked home, with a fresh sauce and ALWAYS al dente. Thank you both 🥰
Excellent list of advice. Believe it or not, I was taught to rinse the pasta under hot faucet water after cooking it to get "rid of excess starch". One bit of advice I was waiting for, though, was when making pasta with marinara, is it better to chop basil and add it to the sauce before cooking or add it at the end?
It may be frowned upon but thicker sauces I like on top of the pasta and I also like the taste of some bare pasta, but it also depends on the dish. Either way I will never turn down a good home cooked spaghetti no matter if pasta is mixed or sauce on top. I actually grew up with it mixed and use to prefer it that way but once I started to taste good pasta and properly cooked I sort of like the sauce just on top and I mix in as I feel on the dish. Again either way I will enjoy it.
I never realized the amount of knowledge and information you should have in order to to be able to choose and cook and enjoy pasta like a real Italian. Very interesting, informative, and entertaining. Thanks for sharing! I'm subscribed!
All 10 is how this Italian was raised. Great job Eva! My biggest thing all should know is not to plop the sauce on top of the pasta, mix it with the sauce as Eva has shown. I add some fine imported Italian grated (not shredded) cheese and mix it in. Mmmmm. Thank God my grandparents were from Italy! Keep it up the two of you. :)
Another indicator of good dried pasta is protein content which usually reflects the quality of durum wheat used so look for 13% + per 100g. In the UK lots of supermarket pasta that's been made in Italy has very low protein content (6%) and it has the texture of cooked jelly babies, not good.
Great tips! How about a video on ordering pasta at a restaurant? My #1 tip is never order pasta at a restaurant where there's only one pasta dish on the menu. I forgot my own rule recently and was served a pappardelle that was mushy and disgusting. This was a nice, highly reviewed restaurant too!
Thank You Two So Much!! Many of the No No's, I too have done Harper. And having watched dozens of Pasta Grammer videos, I have been changing my style. So this will be a video to watch again when a question or a refresher comes up. Great Video!
While Eva mentioned use the right pasta I would like to see what the CORRECT pasta to use is such as shells instead of twists, penne vs lasagna noodles, angel hair or cortene(?- the two foot long pasta)
I can never get enough Pasta Grammar in my life. Eva and you are amazing together. I learn so much every time I watch. It makes me hungry, too. I'm going to keep leftover pasta just so I can make that egg and pasta dish I just saw.😇
Thanks for the explanation of why so much salt. I’ve seen other people do this and I couldn’t figure out why. My family never used that much salt but looking back on it I remembered that my mom once said grandma tried to limit salt because my great grandfather had high blood pressure .
BEST informative video! Laughed out loud! I have been making some mistakes all my life and I'm old! I'm going to do better, now that I know more. Thanks to Eva for the explanations and to Harper for putting this awesome video together!
I feel the need to tell a story about a dish I grew up on. Before I start I have to say I'm not Italian by birth and nobody in my family is either. I grew up on a dish simply called "Buttered Noodles". It is basically spaghetti with butter and garlic salt for seasoning. We were very poor and dishes like this were quite common in our house. A few years ago, I added a little bit of kraft Parmesan and Olive Oil to try and make it a bit creamier. It kind of worked as The dish was a little creamier but still ended up drying up as it cooled. I never knew that this particular dish was in fact truly Italian until I started watching cooking shows on UA-cam. The actual name for this dish is called "Spaghetti Aglio e Olio". The point to this story is one day I discovered Pasta Grammar and I watched the video where Ava made this dish and I learned from her that adding pasta water and fresh Parmesan helps with the creaminess and keeps it creamy much longer. It changed my life. I learned quite a few new dishes from Ava and Pasta Grammar that are very similar and just as easy to make. (Did anyone else know that Alfredo sauce wasn't originally a creamy white sauce? I didn't and I always hated the taste of Alfredo sauce until I learned how to make it the original Napoli way) You guys and your channel are awesome! Please Keep the lessons coming
My Irish American mom always had my Italian American dad taste test the pasta to be sure it was al dente to his liking. When ready it was served in the big pasta bowl and placed in front of him along with a stack of plates. After a quick saying of grace, “In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Please bless this food which we are about to eat. Amen.” Dad would fill the plates and pass the food and we ate it as soon as it was placed in front of us.
Yes!! Thank you! Another mistake I saw is draining the cooked pasta and then "wash" it under running water. There are many reasons this is wrong and risk to ruin the whole dish.
On the topic of microwaving pasta (though not necessary leftovers). In the before days when I used to from from an office, I used to quite often bring food from home and heat it in the microwave at work. And I was always slightly ticked off that my wonderful pasta alla bolognese was always mushy, even if I didn't overcook the pasta when preparing it the day before. The pasta would always absorb the water from the ragout and my dish would be ruined. But I obviously couldn't cook pasta at work, it's not like we had a normal kitchen there. Then I got an idea that worked out beautifully (and was only marginally more work). I would cook my pasta the night before, but finish it a couple of minutes before al dente (as you would when cooking it in sauce). Then I would put the pasta in my tupperware, and the ragout in a separate container (I also had one small box with freshly grated parmigiano by the by). Then next day at work I would heat the ragout in the microwave, but not the pasta. Instead, I would put on the electric kettle that we had in the kitchen (not the US, duh), and then pour the boiling water into the tupperware to reheat the pasta, leaving it there for a couple of minutes while the ragout was coming up to temp. This would not only reheat the pasta, but also bring it up to perfect al dente consistency, without overcooking it. Then I would drain the pasta and mix it with the ragout (and put the parmesan on top obviously). Presto! And yes, some colleagues were looking at me like I'm weird, but I didn't care, I had pasta.
OMG this made me laugh out loud. My family is Sicilian and Eva is 100% on point.. My mom wouldn't even cook the pasta until everyone was at least seated at the table... Too funny....
Guys! As we speak I am making Italian Passata using the recipe I recently saw on your page. I had TONS of grape and cherry tomatoes from my garden. I’m in happy land over here with the aromas floating around in my house! I cannot wait to try the spaghetti, risotto and the “bread thingy”. This week is going to be EPIC!!
The salt in the cooking water also raises the salinity of the water, which chemically raises its boiling point slightly and also makes the buoyancy different so the pasta floats around easier when the bubbles push them up. it all makes for a more even cook.
I knew most of these but a few I learned from Pasta Grammar (much love to the both of you). One thing I will say though as someone who has really upped his cooking game over the last couple years: There are still times when I want to just boil some spaghetti, drain it, mix it with butter and salt, and throw a can of catelli sauce on it. Something comforting about it that reminds me of being 13 and having to cook for myself while my mom was at work. I learned how to cook pasta properly eventually, but that is sort of a comfort method for me for some reason. I just try not to do it often 😆
Bravo! I checked off 9 of the ten on how I've been cooking my pasta for quite a few years now. Before that, I was much like Harper. Even going as far to check for aldente by throwing a strand to see if it stuck to the wall. The tenth that I didn't know, but now do is to check for taste and add more salt if needed. I always tasted it before, but it was to check for aldente. However, I learned years ago to use a gallon of water and make it as salty as the sea. I even use sea salt. So I may have been ok. Thanks. And I think you nailed it. I can't think of any other mistakes. Oops, I guess the sticking to the wall was another one. Merica!
06:30 I've always heard the pasta water should be as salty as seawater, so I tried it once. I got water from the ocean and cooked up a batch of spaghetti. It was almost too salty to eat.
Buongiorno Eva and Harper. Both of you are amazing, Have an amazing day. Especially when it come to Pasta, I love all your pasta dishes.. especially, cherry tomatoes sauce with spaghetti my favorite.
My mother had one 4" frying pan (and a small sauce pot), and she cooked our spaghetti in that, also used for fried chicken, etc. Years after my husband and I divorced and my son was grown (a good cook like his mama and grandma 😊), he called and said his mom had passed away and asked if I would like to go through her kitchen stuff, that all was left was junk to the grown kids (in their 30's), him and two sisters, and I was welcome to what I wanted. My son and I went to her condo and pulled up outside the open garage. Family was upstairs raiding her belongings like rabid animals and sent me to the basement to go through the trash cans and dumpster. What did I find? The LeCreuset blue cookware their mother had cooked all their meals in, in perfect condition. My mouth fell open. My son, who could read my face, quickly handed me the pieces and I hurriedly carried them to the car: Two HUGE stew pots (one so big, I've never seen it offered that size for sale...HUGE), multiple fry pans, sauce pans, casseroles...OMG, it filled the entire hatchback of my little Chevy Geo, cookware probably worth well over a thousand dollars now, for sure. Not a chip in the enamel. I wrapped each piece up in a blanket I had in the car, and we continued digging. I salvaged many clay-pot type casseroles from Italy (no lead, I tested), which is what make me think of this story, similar to what I've seen you use, with beautiful designs painted on and luckily not damaged in the trash can, engraved Pyrex nearly 100 years old now that belonged to their grandmother, etc. I filled the car, emptied it out at home and came back, loaded it up again. In the bottom of the last trash can was Patti's recipe box given to her by her husband when the kids were little with her name engraved on it, all the family recipes neatly tucked away with love for decades destined for the dump. I hugged the box close, took it down to the car, wrapped it up safely in a blanket and have it to this day. I cook 3 large chickens for Winter soup for large gatherings in that large pot and, of course, pasta, just the way my mother-in-law did. I wonder often about that trip to the condo while I'm cooking her recipes in her pots and why family memories are discardable to so many. Thank you for the lesson on pots and pasta and bringing back these memories for me.
Fantastic story
What an awesome story. Keep cooking with love!
Le Creuset in a dumpster??? This is sacrilege. The stuff lasts a thousand years! It's the best cookware on the planet. Unbelievably sad is the recipes in the dumpster. Those are living legacies. A part of who the person was, who is gone. It's worse than if they threw her body in there. Those recipes are who that person IS, incarnate. Flavors gone forever in the local dump. It's how they live on, even more than memories. Because what you taste is still there, more than the scenes in your mind.😟
Sounds like you’re a treasure too!❤️ It blows my mind what some family members think of as valuable and what gets discarded.
It's sad to me that they couldn't see not only the monetary value of these pieces, but the memories. I have my grandmother's original 1950's Betty Crocker cookbook and my grandmother's recipe box. I cherish them. I definitely have used that cookbook. I had to buy a 2nd edition when my mom was alive. I begged her for it then, not happening Robyn.🙂
Every man needs a Eva.
My Italian father always said "The pasta waits for nobody" so they would have us sitting at the table while the pasta was in the pot! Thank you for these great tips!
True.
parole sante!
I actually like to wait a little bit. If I eat it to soon then I don’t taste the sauce, I can only feel the heat.
My husband of 41 years always made me a special dish with left over pasta, he called Pasta Domani ( pasta tomorrow). He’d fry the left over pasta with sugo in oil and add cheese to it. As it fried to nearly burnt , it would have crunchy crust here and there. So yummy. Good to know creating a different dish out of left over pasta was ok!
That's our favorite way to eat pasta e fagioli! It's better the next day
Grew up on that. Today I refer to it as “fried spaghetti “. Or sometimes my mom would mix with egg & cheese and it would be a spaghetti frittata.
There is something so wonderful about crispy pasta! Whenever I make one of my baked pasta dishes….like lasagna, baked ziti, etc., my family will reminds me to make sure I take the tin foil off early enough to make for crispy sides of which they all practically fight over. 🤣❤️ Have to admit to loving it too!
And so now? Now I made myself hungry and I want to make a pan of my baked ziti…ugh! 🤦🏻♀️ Meanwhile, I have a meatloaf in the oven, and it’s just too late now for a game changer! And come to think of it…besides all that, I do happen to love my meatloaf! Alright then…..all is good and I’m grateful to have nice food here!
Yes so good. In fact I make sure to have leftover pasta just to fry it
I am 68 (German/Czech), and only had issue with #9 as I have learned over time all those other wonderful truths about making pasta. Like Harper, I always felt uncomfortable eating before others were served, and ALWAYS to my dissatisfaction, the pasta dish would be either cold, or the texture had changed, or the taste wasn't right. So, I will no longer wait as you have given me the power! I am a grandmother (nonna)/great grandmother, and have the right to enjoy my pasta without waiting! Thank you! (but... probably will still feel a bit uncomfortable, but I'll get over it.) Great video, can't wait for the next installment.
Very good! I have worked in the kitchen, I am Italian and I cook for family and friends.
I get angry with those who don't eat my dishes right away, when this is fundamental !!! I oblige them and I shout at them😅😅😅
Not just pasta! Even the meats, especially red. And above all the gnocchi and fresh homemade ravioli with creamy cheese-based condiments. If they cool down they are literally garbage !!! I don't want those who eat my kitchen to have that experience of the dish! Because it's not real !!
Turns out I was committing practically every pasta crime there is until I started watching your videos in the past couple of years. My mistakes still tasted pretty good, but the lessons I’ve learned really took it to the next level. Thank you, Eva!
Sorry Eva I like my spaghetti halfed. I dirty my water, i.try not to use salt. I turn the sauce, then spin the pasta. Trick confirmed by Lydia Bastianich.
@@deniseg812 💀
Parmesan cheese on seafood 🫣
Eva of Dasa: Rules on Pasta! Harper of Maine is hilarious to watch! Both of you: are talented story-tellers! Harper your cinematographer skills are very impressive !!!
I cooked my own pasta for the first time today because I was inspired by your video. I did everything as you said and it was amazing. I will never buy premade pasta sauce again. Now I want to try more recipes. You’ve really inspired me. Maybe the best thing I’ve ever tasted. I am so happy!
♥️♥️♥️♥️
I normally agree with Eva about everything, but leftover pasta (particularly in a ragu) is awesome when re-heated. It takes on more flavour by absorbing the sauce and it develops great little crispy bits, like a lasagne. And futzing about re-purposing pasta with a Bechamel (as you do in the video on using leftovers) is a lot of extra effort for not much flavour gain. (And you're still re-heating it!). Just don't re-heat it in a microwave!
If you look closely you will see she used beaten eggs to make a frittata.
Yeah, my grandpa would put the pasta into the pot with the ragu to save space. I swear it was better the next day even cold and was as good reheated.
It's also better for you, refrigerate over night to be reheated the next day and the pasta turns into resistant starch so good for your pancreas.
Whenever Americans say "bechamel" I am extremely cautious because 9 out of 10 times horrible things happen
We reheat pasta in a pan all the time. Depends on what kind of sauce and pasta it is but we agree that it’s often great
Here is one you missed...the water MUST be boiling before you add the pasta. My Mom always made awful pasta that would clump together. I hated it, had to fish out the clumps then get yelled at for wasting food. I did not learn to make pasta, til in my 30s, the right way. Love your work and thanks for the education. I now have 10 different types of the good white pasta and I think of their names in an Italian accent because of you.
It's the same for rice.
@@maybee... she made rice that stuck together like a giant sludge marshmallow. GOOD rice has to start with cold h2o...short grain brown or white , that is. Basmati and instant probably have different methods.
She missed the basic chemistry that when you put the salt in the water stops boiling, until it boils again. This is not because the salt is cold, but because it raises the boiling point of water. That's why pasta in water with too few salt doesn't cook well, the temperature is wrong. It's the differences between a 100 degrees celsius and 110 degrees. That's why the water should be 'salt as the Mediterranean' which is a very salty sea.
I’m glad that you caught that and that you mention it. I think that Eva just took it for granted that you had to wait for a boil. She couldn’t imagine anyone not waiting. 😊
I would have to say, that the biggest, simplest, and easiest Pasta Grammar lesson I have learned since watching is the combination of cooking the pasta al dente in a large pot with well salted water while preparing a simple tomato (not tomato sauce from a can) sauce in a pan with chopped tomatoes (whatever is a fresh and available at the time), a little garlic, just a inch of salt for taste and olive oil. As the tomatoes cook I press them a bit to release their flavor. Depending on the mood I may add a sprinkle of other seasonings and maybe a little finely minced onion or shallots. When the sauce and the pasta are almost ready, scoop the pasta into the sauce and finish cooking together for a couple of minutes. I am also now a believer in adding the pasta water - as needed - into the sauce. It really does make it creamier. I would not have believed it until I tried. And as Harper testified, it takes just as long as the 'old' way (yes, I'm mid-western guilty of that), but tastes so much better. The only consequence is that I eat more of it! This is now my go-to pasta. Quick, easy and delicious.
Bravo/a!
There's a ton of starch in the leftover pasta water, that's why it makes things creamier.
before U of A shut down the dorms and the international students lost access to dining halls they made trips to the grocery and many were saying "I never cook before...we have nothing to cook with etc" I was helping a couple medical students with items from the high shelves and and gave them some simple things they could do with frozen veggies, chick pea pasta and a pasta from mexico.... along with hatch chiles, black beans and mexican cheeses (because this is what was left at the store). I was bombarded with cooking questions, questions about pans etc- had I known about your channel I would have recommended they watch.
Yesterday I was making pasta and I tested it, (I've almost always done that). But yesterday when I tested it, my first thought to myself was "My pasta will be ready in - 2 minutes". And I laughed - Thanks Eva.
Love how Harper explains the way English words are spelled actually pronouncing them like we do in Italy when we don't speak English. 8-D
Oh, yes. I forgot: you will be assimilated.
If you think about it, the English language is very complicated. My compliments to Eva.
I think you forgot to mention rinsing with cold water. There are people out there that rins the pasta with cold water, mix it with the sauce and the reheat it. Only rins with cold water if you want to stop the pasta from cooking to keep it al dente in case you make a cold pasta salade. The amount of salt dependence on the type of pasta and the type of sauce. So always taste!
Yes was gonna mention this lol
I totally disagree........rinsing the pasta with cold wather is a sin.
Cook it and eat it immediatly.
@@CIAUSCOLOMAN the question was “did we forget another mistake”. Do not judge me for the mistakes other people make.
@@marcelw6827 I don't judge.....i disagree my friend. You.....can do whatever you want.
@@CIAUSCOLOMAN Are you having a bad day? You’re agreeing with what he stated but you write that you disagree with his statement? So you agree with pasta being rinsed in cold water?
My Dad was in the military. My first memories are in Italy. The neighborhood ladies adopted my Mom and were kind enough to teach her pasta rules and how to make sauce. I grew up spoiled and blessed in terms of Italian food Even though I primarily grew up in NC.
Hey! Me too! Livorno and Vicenza here, where were y’all stationed?
had to google that, you mean North Carolina right?
Nice ^^
I love how as Eva's English is improving, she's daring to attempt more complex sentences! Brava, Eva che stai andando alla grande!
I feel its losing the charm, the uniqueness of the channel. It's like being forced to delete her identity.
Like Sofia Vergara, part of the charm is the "broken English/accent".
I think it will get more boring. I prefer the full italian accent and broken English ....
I'm so glad you mentioned La Molisana! It's my favorite pasta because it is made in Italy, bronze die, and I can eat it without any gut problems even though I should be gluten-free. I think that's because durum wheat in Italy is farmed differently than in the United States.
We’ve heard that from a lot of gluten intolerant folks! It’s the same for dairy with Eva. She’s lactose intolerant in the US, has to be really careful with all dairy, but has zero problem in Italy 🤔
La Molisana is one of the best pastas you can find at the supermarket here in Italy, so you know you're getting the best you can get in a reasonable price range pretty much anywhere in the world.
@@PastaGrammar I'm also lactose intolerant and I find that when I'm traveling around Europe I walk a lot and eating cheese doesn't affect me as much. It's odd but other people on my family report the same. Walking More helps
@@holyolioli Lactose is a sugar, so it disappears during the aging process. Matured cheese like parmigiano or pecorino have virtually 0 quantity of lactose. On the other hand, Cow mozzarella, ricotta and any other fresh cheese has lactose. Whip cream has more (and since cream is used in various dishes when the cook is not able to do their job, this is why we intolerant to lactose often feel bad at restaurants). The same holds for spreadable cheese (which often contain a lot of cream). Interestingly, buffalo mozzarella has way less lactose. If you want to know how much lactose is in a cheese, read the nutritional info the amount of sugar: that’s essentially lactose.
@@GuidoOrefice76 Hi, thanks for the explanation but I already know that. What I'm talking about it that even when I eat creamy cheeses or ice cream I feel much better if I go for long walks
Ava, you have changed my pasta life. Granted I have to eat gluten free pasta, but I try to buy the best I can find that is made in Italy. I never overcook it and I always put my pasta into my homemade sauce and allow it to marry. I, and my family, have you to thank for this. Grazie bene 💕
And gf pasta does require more sauce, or the gf pasta absorbs all the sauce , and the dish is dry.
I always loved to mixed everything together. Even befor italians on youtube. It is much better.
I'm shocked there guys don't have more views. They put so much effort in to make their content original and well thought out.
I've learned so much already and saved a fortune whilst eating better.
Eva’s hands are so expressive! Beautiful to watch , like a dance with her hands
OMG..i remember when my daughter was having her first pasta. I was a single mum always on the run. I used to put cold water in the pot, add immediatly the pasta and a cover, set middle heat, set a timer with always some more minutes as i like ’al dente’. No salt as i thought it was unhealthy. Then i could do other things with my daughter. When it was cooked, we add cold cream cheese. I did that for years...Your channel is not only recipes, it teaches the basics in detailed fun videos. You both are talented. You created (your channel) such a library of knowledge. THANK YOU :)
Her reactions to when you talked about your old ways of cooking! The anguished look she has was killing me! Love you guys!
I’m guilty of eating left over pasta cold! 🙈 Forget the microwave!! It tastes so good when it’s cold. I know I’m not the only one. 🫣 Sorry Eva! 🙈🙈🙈
you don't need to make a frittata with left over pasta just heat it up in a frying pan with high flame the cheese contained in that pasta will forma nice crust on it. NO Microwave!
I can’t tell you how happy I am to find this channel! This doesn’t get more authentic than this! 👏 thank you!
The next day carbonara omelet is a life saver for those of us that have never been able to measure pasta portions. Love what you guys do! Keep up the good work!
Have been binging pasta grammar since discovering it about 9 days ago. I've made pasta prepared Eva's way for the past 7 nights and I've never eaten so well. And it's so dang easy! They've truly clarified, but more importantly simplified, Italian cooking for me.
This was great - I took notes to share with my family.
Maybe this isn't a mistake, but it could be viewed as one since the video you did on it made so much sense and really upped my pasta game - using the right pasta for the dish planned. For instance, which one goes well with a meat sauce, a light sauce, a cheese sauce, soup, casserole, etc. What a much better experience since I've watched your video on that!! Buono!
How I Buy Pasta Like An Italian Chef (what to look for)
ua-cam.com/video/v_XMTvAgpEw/v-deo.html
Well before the advent of mobile phones, my father would stop at a phone booth to verify what time he would be home for dinner; that is, what time to put the pasta in the water. Great episode.
My late father would go to the Italian caffe every Sunday morning. Before cell phones, my late mom was that person: she had that # relegated to memory and would call to nag them to get him home as soon as she was putting the macaroni in the water! God I miss those days.
I'm in the Uk and the first spaghetti I saw (not in a tin!) was about two feet long, in paper packaging, and Buitoni rings a bell. It was the most exotic thing my mum ever tried cooking. If you don't know aout David Attenborough and the spaghetti trees, look it up -that's how unknown pasta was here.
UK also, and yes that pasta was what we ate! Nowadays getting proper long spaghetti is getting harder and harder in England, I have had to go to Amazon to get it !
Many of us learned to cook from our mothers… when we know better, we do better. Thanks for showing us how to up our pasta game Eva & Harper.
Pasta allo scarpiello is my favorite ever since Eva showed it I've been cooking it at least 3 times a month!
It's my boy's favourite, thank you Eva!
scarpariello
You are teaching Americans what they have believed as correct and taken for granted for centuries, lol. I’m so glad that you do this without being ostentatious about your knowledge. I love your videos.
I made ALL of these mistakes too!! 🤣🤣 Right up until I discovered your channel.
I showed my Mom and my sister. My sister went to strain the spaghetti noodles and my Mom and I both yelled Nooo!! She almost dropped the pot, we scared her so bad 🤣
The pain in her face when he described his pasta meal prep! 😂 You can tell there's true love *and* respect for the food. Idk if I'll stop microwaving leftovers, but I appreciated all these tips. Thanks for taking the time.
I've been cooking pasta for myself for 25 years and I've made every mistake in your video at one time or another. Just in the past 3 years I've learned to save pasta water. Love your videos I've learned so many new techniques from you guys. ❤ Oh except mistake #9 I cannot not eat my pasta right away 😋
Your channel and Vincenzo's Plate are two of my favorite food oriented channels! He has a great pasta selector video too. I was lucky to have learned so many great cooking tricks from both of my grandmothers who came from very different cultures. On my dads side learned great American Southern cooking. My grandmother on my mom's side was German and from her learned not only great German cooking but also making Sauerkraut and pickles from scratch. For many years she had lived next to a native Italian lady in Detroit and they taught each other how to prepare both of those cuisines. That kind of food fusion one of the great things coming out of the American immigrant experience.
Guys. This was epic. I really think I am going to need a year to master all of these because I was doing so much wrong ha ha! I'm grateful to learn! Thank you!
My father’s family immigrated from Calabria around 1920. Just found your channel and my wife and I have enjoyed the video does. We just started making our own fresh pasta.
I love reheated pasta, especially because the sauce is fully absorbed. It's delicious and has entire different flavor profile than that served fresh from the pan, in which the sauce is only partially absorbed.
I think Rule 10 is purely a cultural preference. Just like Eva, my mother, born & raised in Scalea, Calabria can not understand why anyone would prefer reheated pasta.
In Campania we use to reheat pasta e fagioli in a pan it's taste better reheated that freshly made.
We don't have a problem reheating pasta but it depends on a variety of factors... what kind of pasta is it? What kind of sauce? How do you reheat it? Usually "reheating" pasta involves some kind of transformative cooking, however basic, such as frying pasta e fagioli in a pan with some olive oil so it becomes crispy. Simply applying heat until the pasta is warm again is really the issue.
Absolutely agree. But I'll do that with care and only with certain kinds of pasta dishes, mostly tomato sauce or bolognese ragu. Never with anything like carbonara or any cream containing sauce, as reheating will break the cream into a mix of oil and clumps.
Anyway, I'll put the pasta in a soup plate, add a few drops of water and cover with an identical soup plate. In the microwave at super low power for a few minutes. Water, cover, power. It just revives the dish without re-cooking it and it stays moist instead of drying like it would in a pan. Actually I just heated some spaghetti and cherry tomato leftovers for lunch just one hour ago and we literally fought for them.
I must add it only works with high quality pasta that retain their al dente texture much better. Cheaper pasta will become soft and overcooked with this method.
This is a great video! I really appreciate Eva explaining the different mistakes I have been making for years! I have always been disappointed by my pasta dishes and have always wanted to know why I can never get them to taste as good as the restaurant. Now I will feel much more confident about my pasta and can’t wait to have people over for dinner!
being an Italian living abroad point 9 really hit me... I basically always end up eating alone my pasta as my wife and son always find something urgent to do when I put pasta on the table and they think that eating 5 or 10 minutes later won't make any difference.
no matter that they know I'm going to cook pasta, no matter that I inform them that "pasta will be ready in 5 minutes" it always happens that there's some last minute more urgent case that need to be taken care of for both of them...
Wheres your obligatory Italian arguing and screaming "Mama Mia!" With full hand gestures!?
Make a fuss. Make your feelings known. Say it upsets your Italian soul.
Show more passion. Its disrespectful to you and pasta!
I cook for the family. Every day. When I call them, they better come sit at the table, hands washed. If anyone leaves the table or fails to come for some stupid reason, I personally throw their dish away and they skip dinner. I use top notch ingredients, it's expensive and it takes a lot of time. Showing respect is the least they can do
If I had made my family wait to sit down at the table I would not have been able to sit down at the table.
Thank you Eva & Harper, LOVE your PASSION and channel. Grew up with a Palermo Family, that's when my passion for cooking began.
Pasta crimes! 😆 I'm guilty of pouring the sauce over pasta. I still like doing it if the sauce is really thick. We never poured sauce straight from the jar, we always cooked it down first.
I remember watching a vid of you and Eva cooking Scarpariello 05 months ago. Totally changed my life on cooking (and eating) pasta. Since then, I've made it a POINT to always eat pasta cooked home, with a fresh sauce and ALWAYS al dente. Thank you both 🥰
Excellent list of advice. Believe it or not, I was taught to rinse the pasta under hot faucet water after cooking it to get "rid of excess starch".
One bit of advice I was waiting for, though, was when making pasta with marinara, is it better to chop basil and add it to the sauce before cooking or add it at the end?
You need to keep the starch to grab a hold of the sauce. ❤
Absolutely! I always pick the pasta directly from the water as well. It works brilliantly.
It may be frowned upon but thicker sauces I like on top of the pasta and I also like the taste of some bare pasta, but it also depends on the dish. Either way I will never turn down a good home cooked spaghetti no matter if pasta is mixed or sauce on top. I actually grew up with it mixed and use to prefer it that way but once I started to taste good pasta and properly cooked I sort of like the sauce just on top and I mix in as I feel on the dish. Again either way I will enjoy it.
I never realized the amount of knowledge and information you should have in order to to be able to choose and cook and enjoy pasta like a real Italian. Very interesting, informative, and entertaining. Thanks for sharing! I'm subscribed!
I also love La Molisana Pasta and every time I go to the supermarket I always check whether the pasta has been restocked or not
Outstanding. Ava has real passion with this subject. Thank you.
For salt I always go with the golden ratio of 10-100-1000, so 10 grams of salt for 100 grams of pasta in 1000 grams ( or 1000 ml/1 litre) of water.
All 10 is how this Italian was raised. Great job Eva! My biggest thing all should know is not to plop the sauce on top of the pasta, mix it with the sauce as Eva has shown. I add some fine imported Italian grated (not shredded) cheese and mix it in. Mmmmm. Thank God my grandparents were from Italy! Keep it up the two of you. :)
Another indicator of good dried pasta is protein content which usually reflects the quality of durum wheat used so look for 13% + per 100g. In the UK lots of supermarket pasta that's been made in Italy has very low protein content (6%) and it has the texture of cooked jelly babies, not good.
Great tip. Thank you.
@@lisapiselli2176 You're welcome Lisa Peas. Pasta e piselli is a family favorite of ours. ;)
@@tonydaddario4706 😂Peas are the best!
I grew up in Italy, age 1 to 18, but I’m learning so much from this channel, much more so than from my relatives
Great tips! How about a video on ordering pasta at a restaurant? My #1 tip is never order pasta at a restaurant where there's only one pasta dish on the menu. I forgot my own rule recently and was served a pappardelle that was mushy and disgusting. This was a nice, highly reviewed restaurant too!
Thank You Two So Much!! Many of the No No's, I too have done Harper. And having watched dozens of Pasta Grammer videos, I have been changing my style. So this will be a video to watch again when a question or a refresher comes up. Great Video!
While Eva mentioned use the right pasta I would like to see what the CORRECT pasta to use is such as shells instead of twists, penne vs lasagna noodles, angel hair or cortene(?- the two foot long pasta)
Candele-candles.
I can never get enough Pasta Grammar in my life. Eva and you are amazing together. I learn so much every time I watch. It makes me hungry, too. I'm going to keep leftover pasta just so I can make that egg and pasta dish I just saw.😇
Thanks for the explanation of why so much salt. I’ve seen other people do this and I couldn’t figure out why. My family never used that much salt but looking back on it I remembered that my mom once said grandma tried to limit salt because my great grandfather had high blood pressure .
She is actually wrong... The real reason is that the salt creates a Leidenfrost effect keeping the pasts fresh - similar to what happens with fries
BEST informative video! Laughed out loud! I have been making some mistakes all my life and I'm old! I'm going to do better, now that I know more. Thanks to Eva for the explanations and to Harper for putting this awesome video together!
I feel the need to tell a story about a dish I grew up on. Before I start I have to say I'm not Italian by birth and nobody in my family is either. I grew up on a dish simply called "Buttered Noodles". It is basically spaghetti with butter and garlic salt for seasoning. We were very poor and dishes like this were quite common in our house. A few years ago, I added a little bit of kraft Parmesan and Olive Oil to try and make it a bit creamier. It kind of worked as The dish was a little creamier but still ended up drying up as it cooled. I never knew that this particular dish was in fact truly Italian until I started watching cooking shows on UA-cam. The actual name for this dish is called "Spaghetti Aglio e Olio". The point to this story is one day I discovered Pasta Grammar and I watched the video where Ava made this dish and I learned from her that adding pasta water and fresh Parmesan helps with the creaminess and keeps it creamy much longer. It changed my life. I learned quite a few new dishes from Ava and Pasta Grammar that are very similar and just as easy to make. (Did anyone else know that Alfredo sauce wasn't originally a creamy white sauce? I didn't and I always hated the taste of Alfredo sauce until I learned how to make it the original Napoli way) You guys and your channel are awesome! Please Keep the lessons coming
Non mi stanco mai di ascoltarvi... siete bravi e simpaticissimi. un abbraccio da nonna Stefania 🤗🥇
My Irish American mom always had my Italian American dad taste test the pasta to be sure it was al dente to his liking. When ready it was served in the big pasta bowl and placed in front of him along with a stack of plates. After a quick saying of grace, “In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Please bless this food which we are about to eat. Amen.” Dad would fill the plates and pass the food and we ate it as soon as it was placed in front of us.
Fantastic suggestions. I've been doing a bunch incorrectly. I'll definitely try your ways.
Eva, thank you for reforming Harper the pasta heathen LOL
Spot on! You wouldn't believe how many Italian/American kitchens I give grief to. Marinara/Ragu just laid upon boiled pasta.
Yes!! Thank you! Another mistake I saw is draining the cooked pasta and then "wash" it under running water. There are many reasons this is wrong and risk to ruin the whole dish.
When some people treat spaghetti like noodles, they are two completely different things.
*GASP! WASHED???!!! OMG
Oh goodness 😅
The best Italian cooking channel.
Ummmm….it’s not Sunday! You guys made me think I slept through a whole day🤣
Seriously, I had to check my watch to make sure it was actually Saturday!
What if this was all a dreeeeeeam 👻
@@PastaGrammar 🤣what am I supposed to watch tomorrow morning? Fun video btw
Thank you for this enlightening episode. I picked up some useful tips which would correct past mistakes highlighted here. Bless Up
Wow, I never thought you could add more salt near the end of the cooking process. I always checked for doneness, not taste.
This is a great video!
She use so much also bcs in italy we use sale grosso (bigger) to salty pasta water
Excellent topic and video from a truly Italian perspective, loved it! Being doing things wrong for years. Steve (67 yrs) , Manitoba
Video day early lovely surprise
Thank you for the most eye opening video ever! I wish I had seen this video 10 years ago
On the topic of microwaving pasta (though not necessary leftovers). In the before days when I used to from from an office, I used to quite often bring food from home and heat it in the microwave at work. And I was always slightly ticked off that my wonderful pasta alla bolognese was always mushy, even if I didn't overcook the pasta when preparing it the day before. The pasta would always absorb the water from the ragout and my dish would be ruined. But I obviously couldn't cook pasta at work, it's not like we had a normal kitchen there.
Then I got an idea that worked out beautifully (and was only marginally more work). I would cook my pasta the night before, but finish it a couple of minutes before al dente (as you would when cooking it in sauce). Then I would put the pasta in my tupperware, and the ragout in a separate container (I also had one small box with freshly grated parmigiano by the by). Then next day at work I would heat the ragout in the microwave, but not the pasta. Instead, I would put on the electric kettle that we had in the kitchen (not the US, duh), and then pour the boiling water into the tupperware to reheat the pasta, leaving it there for a couple of minutes while the ragout was coming up to temp. This would not only reheat the pasta, but also bring it up to perfect al dente consistency, without overcooking it. Then I would drain the pasta and mix it with the ragout (and put the parmesan on top obviously). Presto! And yes, some colleagues were looking at me like I'm weird, but I didn't care, I had pasta.
When my friends speak of pasta, they call it a carrier food. I call it an ingrediënt indeed! Sharing this with them! Great vid!!
OMG this made me laugh out loud. My family is Sicilian and Eva is 100% on point.. My mom wouldn't even cook the pasta until everyone was at least seated at the table... Too funny....
Absolutely, and us Sicilians eat spaghetti with just a fork, no spoons needed! 😎 🙃
You both made me smile with your happiness and joy
Guys! As we speak I am making Italian Passata using the recipe I recently saw on your page. I had TONS of grape and cherry tomatoes from my garden. I’m in happy land over here with the aromas floating around in my house! I cannot wait to try the spaghetti, risotto and the “bread thingy”. This week is going to be EPIC!!
What a wonderful and informative video! I got a lot from it. Thanks so much for posting this.
La Molisiana is a blessing from the pasta Gods.
Always pasta life changing. My grandson thanks you!
Another mistake: using asian noodles to substitute pasta. It hurts both asians and italians.
I’m a chef and number 9 resonated with me. You go to every length to make a dish as good as it can be, it needs to be eaten right away
The salt in the cooking water also raises the salinity of the water, which chemically raises its boiling point slightly and also makes the buoyancy different so the pasta floats around easier when the bubbles push them up. it all makes for a more even cook.
I knew most of these but a few I learned from Pasta Grammar (much love to the both of you). One thing I will say though as someone who has really upped his cooking game over the last couple years: There are still times when I want to just boil some spaghetti, drain it, mix it with butter and salt, and throw a can of catelli sauce on it. Something comforting about it that reminds me of being 13 and having to cook for myself while my mom was at work. I learned how to cook pasta properly eventually, but that is sort of a comfort method for me for some reason. I just try not to do it often 😆
I love you guys, she is full of information, I changed my own ways tomatoes, olive oil and pasta, now I know it takes 15-17 Minions to cook pasta ❤️❤️
I really like how you explained why we make mistake number 8.
I love the interaction between these two beautiful people. Thanks for the tips and also great entertainment!!
Very basic but hits the spot! Luv it!
Thanks for this vlog. Both of you have an amazing day! Ciao.
Bravo! I checked off 9 of the ten on how I've been cooking my pasta for quite a few years now. Before that, I was much like Harper. Even going as far to check for aldente by throwing a strand to see if it stuck to the wall.
The tenth that I didn't know, but now do is to check for taste and add more salt if needed. I always tasted it before, but it was to check for aldente. However, I learned years ago to use a gallon of water and make it as salty as the sea. I even use sea salt. So I may have been ok. Thanks. And I think you nailed it. I can't think of any other mistakes. Oops, I guess the sticking to the wall was another one.
Merica!
You guys are AMAZING! Thank you so much!
Harper, The B-roll on this one was very entertaining. I especially liked the way you were so preciously adding salt to the water. Very fun
06:30 I've always heard the pasta water should be as salty as seawater, so I tried it once. I got water from the ocean and cooked up a batch of spaghetti. It was almost too salty to eat.
I love your channel, I was raised in Livorno and Vicenza, and your shows make me nostalgic.. thanks for the great content!
Buongiorno Eva and Harper. Both of you are amazing, Have an amazing day. Especially when it come to Pasta, I love all your pasta dishes.. especially, cherry tomatoes sauce with spaghetti my favorite.
Amazing and very useful explanations as always. Thank you once more 😘👌👏👍 All the best...