Serpico

Okay, here's the dilemma. I am a full-time student during the day, and I work full-time during the evening.

I would like to be able to cook pasta the night before, and then heat it up/microwave it the next day at work (for carbs, for the next day).

I have tried this, cooking it normal, adding the sauce and then heating at work --but it gets so dry and nasty.

I tried the "Pasta Anytime" microwaveable pasta, and it works --but I would rather use my own pasta and sauce, plus it would be cheaper and taste better.

Does anyone have any tips? Maybe half cooking the pasta the night before, and then letting the sauce cook it through in the microwave?

Thanks in advance.

FXjohn

Are you keeping the cooked pasta and sauce in a glass dish?
I think there are microwave boilers you can probably buy, I would check into that.

iowarose

What a lot of Italians do is make a frittata with leftover pasta (lots of times this has egg as a binder), but they often just make something more like a spaghetti pie too. This wouldn't get rid of the crunchy on the outside problem, but the pasta inside would still be a nice texture.

I doubt 1-2 minutes microwaving would finish cooking half-done pasta, but then again I've never done it.

Do you cover the pasta when you microwave it? That would help. Use a microwave-safe plastic wrap on top, and don't seal it completely so air can escape.

BillyBob

Cover the dish
Use more sauce
Don't cook it as long.

jeff williams

Toss the pasta in olive oil when still warm and wet, store.

ZackJones

You can also add a little water before microwaving. It will thin the sauce a bit but it works.

Blackberry

This pasta sauce would be my death row last meal choice. Best in summer with garden fresh veggies, but good other times too. You can play around with ingredients and it will always come out great. And you don't even need a stove. It's completely uncooked and totally delicious.

Chop fairly small and put in a big bowl: 2 cukes, 4 tomatoes, 1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped basil, 1 white onion, as much garlic as you like 2-4 cloves or more.

Add to the bowl 4 ounces of grated parmasan cheese, 1/4 cup good olive oil a dash or two of vinegar (balasmic or otherwise)

Cook pasta, let it cool a little and pour on the sauce. You can refrigerate the sauce but it tastes best when allowed to warm up to room temperature.

snowy

Cook the pasta the night before leaving in a bowl with half water. The water will keep the pasta moist. Then when your ready to eat, drain the water and pour the sauce over the paste and heat. Just something that I do when I want to keep leftover pasta.

crustedfish

this is what you should do. listen to me. iwas a pro chef for 6 years.

cook pasta night before. under cook it slightly. keep a bit of bite to it.

drain it, toss it with a bit of olive oil or neutral oil, depending on the sauce, and let it cool on a cookie sheet. store covered tightly.

make sauce. cool sauce.

heat sauce in microwave the next day. heat pasta with a touch more water in a microwave the next day.

combine.

enjoy.

oh..btw..if you are using cream sauces, it will break in the microwave.

adjust the sauce with water, milk, a touch of olive oil...all depending on the sauce used.

jeff williams

As CF said: "drain it, toss it with a bit of olive oil or neutral oil, depending on the sauce, and let it cool on a cookie sheet. store covered tightly."

..and I said: "Toss the pasta in olive oil when still warm and wet, store."

This is what is done in the food sevice industry. A veg oil will do.

Also, if you are hungry when preparing...add a little butter, pepper, garlic, parsley and Parmesan -toss.
That's all you need for a nice dish, no sauce. But this is not a stored pasta dish, eat right away.

I'm going for snacks....

nick burns

You could always eat it cold too. Sometimes certain flavors become more pronounced when the food is cool.

jeff williams

Good point, cheeses do. Also pasta sauce and soups are best served next day as the flavours have combined during the cooling and sitting.

sillygirl

Try making a pasta casserole: like baked ziti. its got cheese, and actually tastes better the next day. I love this leftovers, but dont normally like pasta as a leftover.

Make sauce - one jar
Make fresh pasta (make sure its very al dente - dont overcook), strain. whole package of pasta
Mix pasta with sauce
Put pasta in baking dish and mix in shredded fresh mozzeralla (whole package) and a tub of riccotta.
stir so its mixed thouroughly.

cook 15 minutes at 350. then cover with tinfoil and cook for another 15 minutes (that controls how crispy the top gets so you can change to your preference). and thats it. its great hot, its great cold and its great reheated. when you reheat, cover the tupperware with a wet papertowel - helps to keep the moisture in.

So, it makes a whole lot - so you can adjust accordingly.

FXjohn

Yeah, pasta is so easy to make fresh, fast and no mess.
A lot of good suggestions here for the original poster.
I'm still surprised no one boils pasta from scratch in the microwave, I do ramen once in awhile, just keep an eye on it.
With the soft or fresh pasta especially, that only takes like 4 minutes.

enduro

I cook regular pasta in the microwave...just put it in a bowl with water and heat it until it's done. Drain and eat. Takes maybe 10-15 minutes for a bowl full.

For a really easy snack I like to make ziti with olive oil, parmesan cheese, and some herbs. You can refrigerate it and eat it cold, it's very good like that.

I don't like most ramen much because of the high amount of hydrogenated oils it contains.

Oh, for a change of pace I'm a proponent of Albertson's instant brown rice.

*new*guy

werd.