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10/24/2002 Archived Entry: "Spaghetti"

As someone who can write pages about food that I am only casually interested in, imagine how much I could go on about spaghetti, a food I sometimes think is as vital to my body as air and water. Some nights I go to bed thinking about sex, sometimes about work, and sometimes about spaghetti.

So I exaggerate. In any case, life without spaghetti certainly would be a marginal existence.

For today, however, I will limit myself to three essential points about this most honorable of all Italian foods.

1. Spaghetti and the various shapes of macaroni are in no way second-rate compared to egg pasta or so-called fresh pasta (fettuccine and company). This needs to be said because, for the last 20 years or more, we’ve heard too much about the glories of egg pasta, as if it were superior to good old dependable dry pasta made from only semolina (the flour of hard durum wheat) and water.

Some restaurants and food emporiums even go so far as to call egg pasta “homemade pasta,” connoting all the goodness and wholesomeness we associate with home. To this I ask, “In whose home was it made?”

Egg pasta can, of course, be very fine pasta, but it usually isn’t. It is almost always too thick, heavy and pasty. On the other hand, spaghetti and macaroni, even the least of the domestic brands, are never less than okay if made with 100% durum semolina. And superior Italian brands are in every way fulfilling food, convenient as well.

2. To cook a pound of spaghetti or macaroni properly you must use five quarts of rapidly boiling water with two tablespoons of salt. This is law. You may break the law, but at your own risk: If you don’t use enough water, the spaghetti may stick together and its surface will certainly seem starchy or sticky. If you don’t use enough salt, it will taste flat. Do not put oil in the water; it’s a waste of oil. Do not rinse spaghetti; if it’s starchy, you didn’t used enough water. Just bring the water to a roiling boil, add the pasta, stir, cover the pot to bring the water back to a boil fast, then uncover and stir again. It will be done in eight to 12 minutes, depending on the type of pasta. Fishing some out with a fork and tasting it is the only sure way of knowing it is done to your bite - al dente

3. All you need to put on good, nutty-tasting 100% semolina spaghetti is olive oil and garlic (I like hot pepper, too) or butter and cheese. Sometimes I don’t even bother with the garlic. Just olive oil and pepper is great on great pasta. Just the other day, I was on the phone with my friend Iris Carulli, who lives in Rome, and she said, “Oh, you just caught me eating my new favorite spaghetti dish. I boil the pasta in water in which I cooked wild fennel fronds.” As she well knows, we don’t get wild fennel fronds here in New York, so she said, “You could also cook the spaghetti in the water left from blanching escarole or broccoli rabe.” A great idea, I thought, especially with some great olive oil drizzled over it.

After oil and seasoning, all other sauces are secondary, like anything but butter on a baked potato. But if you eat spaghetti as regularly as I do, you should have some quickly prepared sauces to keep life interesting. The following sauces can be cooked in the same time or less than it takes five quarts of salted water to come to a boil (15 minutes-ish) plus the time it takes to cook the pasta – a total of about 20-something minutes. Talk about convenience foods – spaghetti is the king of all of them.

Spaghetti with Pesto and Ricotta

Pesto can be bought or made. In either case, it is very popular and once you have some in the refrigerator it’s there when you need it. So if you can’t throw this one together, go back to Kraft, do not pass go, do not collect anything.

1 pound spaghetti
1 cup ricotta
1/2 cup pesto
Freshly-ground black pepper
Freshly-grated parmesan cheese

Bring water to a boil and cook spaghetti.

Meanwhile, in a serving bowl, with a fork, blend together the ricotta and the pesto.

Drain spaghetti thoroughly, then toss in a bowl with the sauce mixture. Serve with a pepper grinder and extra cheese for everyone to add as needed.

Spaghetti with Onions and Yogurt

A sauce inspired by an Afghan noodle dish. Yes, they make pasta in Afghanistan – at least they used to.

1 pound spaghetti
6 tablespoons butter
1 medium-large onion
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups plain yogurt, at room temperature
1 to 2 tablespoons dried dill weed

Bring water to a boil and cook spaghetti.

Meanwhile, in a heavy skillet, heat 4 tablespoons butter. On the coarse side of a four-sided grater, grate onion into the skillet. Sauté over medium-high heat for 10 minutes, stirring constantly until onion begins to brown. Add garlic and sauté 4 or 5 more minutes, until onions are well-browned. Remove from heat, add remaining butter, let melt.

Drain spaghetti and in a serving bowl, toss with the onion mixture and yogurt. Sprinkle with dill and serve immediately.

For more spaghetti sauces, see: Five Minute Tomato Sauce, Spaghetti all'Amatriciana, and Spaghetti with Eggplant and Mozzarella.