If you’ve never had the pleasure of preparing and eating fresh pasta, you are missing a culinary delight! With the launch of our line of fresh pasta and sauces, PASTA REA, I want to guide you on how best to prepare it and offer a few suggestions on what sauces complement each shape of pasta so that you may fully enjoy this wonderful taste sensation.
The most important thing to know is that fresh pasta only takes about 3 – 5 minutes to cook depending on the shape. It is also important that you cook the pasta in ample water, about 2 quarts of water to 1 pound of fresh pasta. Adding sea salt to the pasta water and small amount of oil adds flavor to the pasta as it cooks. Allow the water to come to a rolling boil, immerse pasta and return to a rolling boil.
Drain well and sauce immediately. Sauce your pasta in increments – begin with a small amount to cover the pasta and add gradually. You don’t want to “overpower” the lovely fresh pasta with sauce. The pasta should never be “swimming” in sauce. I also want to emphasize that you should complement the fresh pasta with fresh sauces to truly appreciate the quality. To help keep the pasta warm longer, serve the pasta from a large heated serving bowl (pour extremely hot water into the bowl and empty) or heated individual pasta bowls.
Heavier, meaty sauces such as Bolognese or Sunday Gravy (our Sunday Gravy sauce is a tomato based sauce with sausage, pork and meatballs) require a substantial pasta to hold up to the sauce. We suggest our Rigatoni, Gemelli, Cavatappi or Mostaccioli.
When serving PASTA REA Bolognese Sauce we suggest our Conchiglie or Lumache pasta. Both are hardy and capture the sauce and meat within the pasta so each bite is full of flavorful ingredients.
Light sauces such as pesto, marinara, or alfredo are perfect for the more delicate, small sized pastas such as macaroni, penne, or long pastas such as tagliatelle, fettuccine or pappardelle.
All pasta dishes can be enhanced with a sprinkle of authentic grated parmesan cheese prior to eating. As with the sauce, add the cheese sparingly so as not to overpower the taste and enjoy!
Mangia Bene and remember. . . . “chi mangia bene, vive bene” (who eats well, lives well)
Chef Tony Rea
Pasta Rea
Creations in Cuisine Catering, Executive Chef
