Cooking pasta

[Texomamama]

The other day I gave my 7.5 mo elbow macaroni with parmesan cheese and she loved it.  However, pasta is kind of hard to make in single serving quantities, and I have always been of the opinion that leftover pasta tastes sticky and gluey.

How do you all make pasta and keep it, or do you just throw a bit in boiling water and deal with the wasted extras?

[oe]

thanks for the idea. O will be 8 months and I wanted to try pasta, but couldn't think of one small enough. I will for sure use macaroni. As for the waste, I will probably just make enough for both kids.. and whatever they don't eat, I probably will

[~inbalance~]

Hmmmm, I have no problems when I make small amounts, although I also don't have problems making large batches and keeping it in the fridge.  You might have to try different kinds of pastas as well.  I find that rice or whole wheat pasta don't keep as well (figures, the healthier ones  ).  The kind I buy is an organic veggie pasta (it's wheat pasta, but made with beet juice, spinach, etc so it's the coloured kind) and I buy rotini.  I make the whole package or half the package according to directions, then stick the remainder in the fridge and it's good for the week.  Also, I think if you over cook it and it's a bit too mushy, that's when it gets sticky.  Another tip is make sure you rise the pasta with cold water immediately after cooking it, or else it will keep cooking and again will get mushy and sticky.  Shocking it with cold water will harden it up a bit.

It's actually great to have around because I throw it into soups, make pasta salads, or use it as a meal in a pinch.  For example last night DH was working late, and I realized I didn't have anything prepared for dinner.  But I did have a bag of pasta I had cooked two days earlier.  So I chopped up a bunch of veggies, sauteed them with some garlic and pesto, and threw in the pasta.  Simple, fast meal in a snap!

[Texomamama]

oe- you might also consider "pastina".  I think they are those little ones that you see in soups like minestrone etc.  I just happen to have some elbows around, so I used those.

Martina, do you have to rehydrate it when you use leftovers?  I presume you add a bit more water when you recook it.  You make a good point about rinsing it in cold water.  As for the overcooking it, unfortunately right now, al dente would probably be hard for my LO, but in a month or two, when she has teeth and is chewing better, I will definately not cook it as long.

Thanks.

[~inbalance~]

No, not al dente, just don't cook longer than the specified amount.  For example, most pastas give a range, ie 9-11mins.  So I cook for 10-11mins (9mins would be al dente).  Does that make sense?  Depends on the shape of the pasta too, but 1min cooking time makes a big difference so if it says max 11mins and you cook for 12mins, it will likely be too soft.

Maybe it's just the kind I use, but I don't have to do anything to it when I reheat it.  It tastes the same, and since usually I am using a bit of sauce I don't add water.  But I suppose that you can use a bit of water.

I find that my LOs will eat it cold too.

[oe]

thanks for the tips martina and texomamama. I will definetely try that. I don't know why all I could think of was spaghetti and penne (I guess cause that is what we mostly eat.)

[Lemonthyme]

I just cook the amount he wants, maybe a little extra as some goes on the floor.  There is a bacterium Bacillus cereus which is a big problem in reheated grains (rice is by far the worst though) so I prefer just to cook to order on grains and pasta.

[hellybobs]

I make lots of pasta mealsbut use soup pasta which is smaller pieces (tesco) an then freeze the meals with pasta in them which works great xx

[Chicane]

i have a little saucepan for doing small amounts of pasta also to refresh cooked pasta i throw it into boiling water for a few seconds...

DS loves fusili (spirals) and also loves penne cause he sticks his finger in the holes and sucks the pasta off...