Theme week is over but I still have remnants of pasta nostalgia left in me. And I already got my heart set out on this post. I like to share some products or tools dedicated entirely to the art of making and cooking pasta. I’m not endorsing any products, just giving my two cents worth on what I think works and what doesn’t.
First up, we have wares for cooking the pasta (pic below). They do have pots designed to cook pasta perfectly. They usually come in two parts. The outer pot and an inner pot that has drainage holes so when you lift the pasta up the water goes back down to the outer pot. The problem I have with this is that you’ll still get the water everywhere because you have to lift it up pretty high or the water won’t drain. Or for a simpler version, a pot with a draining lid. You keep the lid tight and then just drain the water from the holes. Here’s my problem, if you’re using both hands to hold the handles while tipping the pot, how are you going to hold the lid shut? And if you say, your thumbs, well, wouldn’t the lid be very hot? I’m sure they might have created some lid that stays shut while you’re tipping the pot or invent lids that had silicone edges so it’s safer to handle…but I haven’t seen either of these.
The best way for me is to use a colander. You can use ones that has handles on both sides or those with one long handle. Personally I like the one with a long handle. But it’s important to note that they will work better if they are able to stand at the bottom.
The pictures you see at the bottom here are spaghetti measures, that comes in all forms, shapes and eras. Now I don’t have one of these and I don’t think I’ll ever own one. My tip is, a handful of spaghetti should be enough to feed say 2 to 3 average-sized adults.
Here we have all sorts of ravioli makers and moulds (below). If I ever get a pasta maker, that would be the first thing I’m going to make. With ravioli, you actually don’t need a lot in a plate because they are rather filling. No matter the tools, you still have to gently press out the air by sealing the edges of the filling in the ravioli with your hands. I have the rolling cutter and will test it out as soon as I learn to make raviolis but a good trick you can use are cookie cutters.
Clockwise from left; Ravioli stamps, Ravioli rolling pin, Ravioli cutter, Ravioli moulds
Gnocchi boards (below). I love gnocchis but tend to be quite reluctant to make them because they do need time to prep. I have to get myself mentally in the mood or at least pscyhe my palate up by looking at delicious gnocchi dishes. Read more about my thoughts on gnocchis here.
Other tools involved with cooking and making pasta (pic below); a pasta maker….actually it’s more a universal noodle maker because I’ve seen Asian vendors using this to handmake their noodles as well. This one is manually cranked but they do have electrical pasta makers. I think personally I would prefer the electrical type although the manual one works just fine. It’s more a convenience issue. When you’re rolling out long sheets of pasta, you might need two hands to gather the flimsy sheets as they come out the rollers.
The two pics below (above) are a slotted spaghetti spoon and a drying rack for freshly made pasta. Although I own the spaghetti spoon, my favourite tool for tossing up pasta is still a pair of tongs (below). Mostly because you usually use a pair of tongs to plate the pasta in the end so rather than using two different wares, just stick to one to save on washing.
