EVERYTHING OIL
Megan Baadjies
ANY Italian chef will tell you the best way to have a bowl of pasta is al dente. Al dente means “to the tooth” or firm to the bite.
So if, like me, you’ve been cooking and serving your family soft pasta, then you’ve been doing it wrong.
Chef Giorgio Nava, proprietor of 95 Keerom and Carne SA in Cape Town, won the Barilla World Pasta Championship in 2013 and is an ambassador of Academia Barilla in Parma, so it comes as no surprise he’s a master when it comes to all things pasta.
“Pasta should never be soft or over-cooked,” he says. “A firmer pasta texture has a better mouthfeel and taste to enrich your favourite sauces, but there are also real health benefits to cooking your pasta al dente.”
Chef Giorgio shares his tips on how to cook the perfect pasta and the health benefits.
The golden rule for cooking pasta is 1:10:100, which translates to 1 litre of water, 10g of salt and 100g of pasta.
The cooking time will depend
PUse a vegetable peeler to remove the peel of each lemon, with as little white pith as possible, placing the strips in a small ovenproof saucepan or baking dish as you work.
Add the garlic cloves, chilli if using, bay leaves and thyme.
Pour in the oil, making sure to add on the cut and shape of the pasta you choose.
The firmer the pasta, the longer the digestion time, which means a lower spike in blood sugars.
Pasta made from durum wheat semolina and cooked al dente has a lower glycaemic index (GI) than other starches.
The protein structure of durum wheat pasta lends elasticity and strength, and when cooked al dente, is digested more slowly than most other carbohydrates.
Now that you know how to cook your pasta al dente, try this pasta dish from Chef Giorgio, using Barilla pasta. enough so all those components are submerged.
Cover tightly with aluminium foil and slow-roast (middle rack) for about 1½ hours.
Uncover and let cool. The oil can be used right away, or transfer it along with the solids to a glass container with a tight-fitting lid. – The Washington Post