Pasta, From Hot to Cold and Back Again

When you're making a pasta dinner, sometimes it seems that by the time you get the meal to the table, everything is hot except the noodles.

If you expect a delay in serving the noodles, after you've drained them, place them back into the pan that you originally cooked them in with just enough water to cover the bottom and keep the noodles from sticking. Place over the burner, on the lowest setting and cover, stirring frequently to prevent sticking.

When you're ready to serve the pasta, drain off the remaining water. If you're adding sauces or other ingredients to the cooked pasta, return it to the pot, after draining off the water, then add the sauce or ingredients. Reheat the pasta over medium heat until the pasta and the sauce are brought to serving temperature.

While you are making dinner, take the bowl that you will be serving the pasta in and fill it with very hot water. Let the bowl stand to absorb the heat from the water. After you drain the water from the pasta, dump the water from the serving bowl. Wipe out the serving bowl with a soft cloth, and then place your pasta directly into the pre-warmed bowl. The heat will keep the pasta warm, ready to serve.

Now that everyone has had enough to eat, you realize that you have a ton of pasta left. You hate to throw it out, but how do you keep it?

The easiest way to store pasta is to freeze it.

Place the pasta back in the colander and rinse it off under cool tap water. This will remove any extra starch from the noodles and make them more manageable for the next step.

Place the noodles into plastic containers, seal well and freeze until firm. (allow about 3-4 hours)

Remove the containers from the freezer and place the frozen pasta blocks into large freezer bags and seal well. Note the date that the pasta was made on the bag. Now just place the pasta in the freezer until it is needed. Pasta can be frozen for up to 6 months in this manner.

To defrost the noodles, simply pull out the blocks you need. Place a large pot of water on the stove to boil.

Once the water is boiling, add the blocks of pasta into the water and cook until reheated, usually around 2-4 minutes depending on quantity of noodles.