Three things answer a common question. How do you make pasta taste like it does in Italy? The answer is mostly technique. This box is built to teach it.
Sicilian busiate, a tomato sauce cooked on a family recipe, and olive oil good enough for the table.
What's in the box
Three products, all Italian.
- Organic Busiate by Morelli. A Sicilian spiral. The twist is what grips the sauce.
- Basil Tomato Sauce by Campo d'Oro. Sicilian tomatoes on a traditional family recipe.
- Selezione Extra Virgin Olive Oil by Frantoi Cutrera. A finishing oil — goes on raw, not in the pan.
The six rules on how to cook pasta
Salt the water properly. It should taste of the sea. This is the only chance the pasta itself has to be seasoned.
Never add oil to the water. It does nothing except stop sauce sticking to the pasta later.
Weigh it: 100g a head. Roughly 3½ ounces of dried pasta per person for a main course, 80g when it is one of several courses. A 17.6 oz pack serves four to five. Almost everyone cooks too much.
Pull it two minutes early. Pasta finishes cooking in the sauce, not in the pot. Al dente means "to the tooth". It should resist slightly when you bite it. No chalky white core should remain.
Keep a cup of pasta water. Starchy water is what binds sauce to pasta. It is the single biggest difference between home pasta and restaurant pasta.
Finish in the pan. Drain the pasta into the sauce. Add a splash of water. Toss over heat until glossy.
Primi
Busiate al pomodoro
20 minutes · vegan
The dish the five rules are for. Warm the sauce. Toss the busiate through it with pasta water. Add olive oil at the table.
From your box: Busiate, Basil Tomato Sauce, Selezione EVOO
Busiate with burrata
20 minutes · vegetarian
The same dish, richer. Tear burrata over the top at the table rather than in the pan, so it slumps instead of melting.
From your box: Busiate, Basil Tomato Sauce, Selezione EVOO
Busiate with sausage
30 minutes
Brown sausage meat first, then add the sauce and let it cook down. The one dish here that wants time rather than technique.
From your box: Busiate, Basil Tomato Sauce, Selezione EVOO
Three ways to run it
First time cooking Italian — Busiate al pomodoro, and read the five rules first. Dinner for four — The sausage version; it stretches furthest. Impressing someone — Burrata, torn at the table.
Questions we get
How do you make pasta taste like it does in Italy? Four things. Salt the water until it tastes of the sea. Pull the pasta two minutes early. Save a cup of starchy water. Finish the pasta in the sauce. Good oil at the table does the rest.
Should you put olive oil in pasta water?
No. It doesn't stop sticking — stirring does — and it coats the pasta so sauce slides off later.
Why save pasta water?
The starch in it binds oil and water together, which is what makes a sauce cling instead of pooling. It is the most useful thing in the kitchen and it is free.
What is busiate?
A Sicilian spiral pasta, traditionally rolled around a thin rod. The twist grips sauce, which is why it suits pesto and tomato equally.
How much pasta per person?
100g of dried pasta per person, roughly 3½ ounces, for a main course. Drop to 80g a head when pasta is one course among several, as it is in Italy. A 17.6 oz pack serves four to five.
What does al dente actually mean? "To the tooth". It is cooked through but still firm. There should be no chalky core. Test by biting, not by timing. Packet times are just a guide.
How much water do you need for pasta? About 4 litres per 500g. Salt it until it tastes of the sea. Use 10g of salt per litre. Too little water makes the pasta gluey.
Product featured in the recipe:
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