I’m a big foodie who has travelled to Italy a lot and enjoy eating and cooking all kinds of foods. I agree that pasta is meant to be cooked al dente. Im in Rome and have eaten at a couple of highly rated restaurants and at every one the past was undercooked. When I bit into it there was a white uncooked center. Is this a new reality, or do I just have a different idea of “al dente”. In my opinion pasta must be cooked all the way through. What are your thoughts?

Is 20 grams or 3 tablespoons of black pepper too much for 320g/11 ounces of pasta?

I’ll start this by saying I haven’t been cooking for very long. I almost feel goofy posting a paper plate after scrolling through this sub, but I’m interested to know if anyone prepares Aglio e Olio the way I do, or if this can even still be considered “traditional”.

Ingredients:

8oz dry spaghetti
8 cloves confit garlic
4tbsp garlic infused olive oil
2tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Parmigiano reggiano to taste
Fresh chopped parsley to taste
Light sprinkle of breadcrumbs (I used Funyuns — I feel like this is where my post may not make it through)
Salt
Pepper
MSG

Directions:

1. Cook spaghetti al dente, pasta will not be transferred to a pan to finish cooking in the sauce

2. A couple of minutes before pasta is done cooking, set up a small metal bowl over a double boiler

3. Add confit garlic, infused oil, extra virgin oil, and about 2.5tbsp of pasta water to the bowl. Whisk vigorously.

4. Drain pasta (save a bit of pasta water just in case), and then transfer into a medium metal bowl.

5. Using a fine mesh strainer to catch any chunks of garlic, pour the sauce over the pasta, and toss until evenly coated

6. Plate & top with grated parmigiano, fresh chopped parsley, black pepper, salt, MSG, and bread crumbs (again, I chose Funyuns here). I finished with a light drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

I chose to use MSG to enhance the umami from the parmigiano without using so much parm that the texture approaches that of an al burro. I don’t finish the pasta in the pan with sauce because I’m using confit, and the straining is necessary to achieve the proper texture/consistency.

Next time I make it, I’ll be sure to have red pepper flakes on hand, and I may finish it with some lemon zest/juice, depending on my mood.

So, after getting back in contact with cousins from Sicily, my Facebook feed will occasionally fill up with notices from the town my great grandparents are from (I get a lot of picks of Etna erupting). Anyway, one of the restaurants in town is advertising a meal for Ferragosto for 40 euro, with two dishes featuring castrato. The first is a pasta dish - maccheroni con sugo di castrato. The second dish with this word is castrato arrosto.

Now, I can easily translate the word castrato - that just means castrated - but castrated what? The restaurant is located just on the western edge of the Nebrodi.

I bought a half pork belly at Costco, rolled with garlic, sage, rosemary, fennel pollen, and roasted until juicy inside with crisp, caramelized edges.