Cooking and Dining

[tifosi77]

The only ones where I diverge and question the sourcing of the info and premise of the polling:

- Bolognese isn't served with dried pasta, regardless of shape. 'Meat sauce'? Maybe. But not ragú Bolognese. (This is a hyper-regional thing in Emilia-Romagna)

- "Having meatballs with spaghetti" and "adding sauce afterward" are often two parts of the same piece, depending on what part of Italy you're talking about. Basically from Campania south they stew a variety of meats in tomato sauce, then reserve the meats for one course and dress the pasta course with the reserved tomato sauce. In the south I believe it's more common to drain the fully cooked pasta and move it to a bowl and give it a few spoons of sauce, which is not how pasta is usually finished in most other parts of Italy. Elsewhere, the pasta is removed from the water a minute or so short of doneness and added directly to the pan where just the amount of sauce appropriate for the number of guests is waiting, and the noodle and condiment cook together for that final minute or so. There might be a nuance to the translation there, but that's more of a north-south divide than "controversial among Italians". Like most people, they aren't monolithic in their foodways.

[NTP66]

Garlic bread was the only one I was sacrilegious on. Snapping spaghetti before you boil? That should be -100

Same.

[willeyeam]

Garlic bread was the only one I was sacrilegious on. Snapping spaghetti before you boil? That should be -100

But it's so long and unmaneagable.

Who tf puts ketchup on pasta?

Twirl it you heathen

[dodint]

My wife had a similar response, asking what part of Italy was polled.

[count2infinity]

I like how India is more or less: “meh, do what you want.”

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

I question any poll that asks if it's ok to eat pizza for lunch. Am I missing something here?

[count2infinity]

According to my formative years tv commercials: as long as pizza is on a bagel, you can have pizza anytime.

[Shyster]

Spaghetti is one of my least-favorite forms of pasta. I'll only use spaghetti and other members of that family (linguini, vermicelli, capellini, etc.) for dishes with a smooth, uniform sauce, like carbonara (made only with eggs, cheese, pork, and black pepper, of course). Even bronze-die spaghetti stinks at having tomato sauces stick, and I make my tomato sauces chunky with meats and vegetables. For a tomato sauce, I'm going to reach for stuff like farfalle, rotini, cavatappi, orecchiette, radiatori, penne, etc. before I'd ever think of using spaghetti. Those, I can eat with a spoon and get pasta and sauce in every bite.

[willeyeam]

You would probably like Fusilli then

[NTP66]

There’s a pasta for everyone.

[blackjack68]

You would probably like Fusilli then

One in a million shot, Doc.

[mac5155]

Acini de pepe with egg and milk. Yesssss

[NTP66]

Sam’s Club birthday cakes are criminally underrated.

[mac5155]

And their flower bouquets, especially with V day coming up fellas.

[tifosi77]

Spaghetti is one of my least-favorite forms of pasta. I'll only use spaghetti and other members of that family (linguini, vermicelli, capellini, etc.) for dishes with a smooth, uniform sauce, like carbonara (made only with eggs, cheese, pork, and black pepper, of course). Even bronze-die spaghetti stinks at having tomato sauces stick, and I make my tomato sauces chunky with meats and vegetables. For a tomato sauce, I'm going to reach for stuff like farfalle, rotini, cavatappi, orecchiette, radiatori, penne, etc. before I'd ever think of using spaghetti. Those, I can eat with a spoon and get pasta and sauce in every bite.

Should've addressed this sooner, but I didn't see it at the time.

The chunkiness is my guess why you're having a hard time getting the sauce to cling to the strand noodles, which is why they don't use dried shapes like that for ragú Bolognese. If you can, try a store-bought fresh pasta - preferably one that was sheeted with a wooden pin against a wooden board. Give that a try and see if it helps. (You can get packages as small as like 8oz-9oz from the brands I know, so if you want to do your make-a-bunch-for-the-week move, you can cook a 3/4 batch of your preferred shape, and then at cook up a small portion of the fresh pasta to give it a test if it is to your liking) Or you could de-chunkify your sauce and go with more of a regular pomodoro type thing.

And I would also suggest if you're talking about getting 'pasta and sauce in every bite' you are really over-saucing the pasta. It should be dressed like a salad, with no extra in the pan after plating or on the plate after eating.

But again, I'm talking about it from the perspective of my preference for central-northern Italian cookery. I'm not here to tell you how to eat; you do you, it's your kitchen and your belly. Do what makes you happy. I just thought I'd tag on to the discussion dodint brought up.

[NTP66]

What are you guys doing for Super Bowl Sunday? I usually make Dr. Pepper Meatballs, but am looking to try something new this year.

[Kane]

You can't post about Dr. Pepper meatballs and not share a recipe, you cad.

[Dickie Dunn]

Do those qualify as central-northern Italian?

[NTP66]

You can't post about Dr. Pepper meatballs and not share a recipe, you cad.

I think I've posted it here before, but it's stupid easy:

Dr. Pepper Meatballs

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ cups Dr. Pepper
• ½ cup ketchup
• ⅓ cup BBQ sauce
• 1 tsp liquid smoke
• Pinch of onion flakes
• 1 lb. frozen, fully-cooked Italian meatballs
• 1 tsp cornstarch

Directions:
Simmer everything but the meatballs for 10 minutes or so on medium until the sauce reduces. Add the cornstarch mixture to the sauce and cook for 1 more minute. Add frozen meatballs, cover, and cook on medium for 25 minutes.

I usually serve them on small club rolls with cheese of your liking - provolone for me, sometimes Monterey Jack.

[mac5155]

I was hoping to have some folks over and do baby back ribs but not sure it's going to happen. I usually do something off the smoker.

[count2infinity]

I'm going to make soft pretzels and a beer cheese dip, some veggies with spinach dip, and either wings or chicken tenders (depending on what's available at the store).

[NTP66]

Got a recipe for that beer cheese dip? That sounds good, and we've never gone the soft pretzel route before.

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

Something something tourists in Italy something about someone's nana something Dr pepper meatballs

[Kane]

Swurt.

[count2infinity]

Got a recipe for that beer cheese dip? That sounds good, and we've never gone the soft pretzel route before.

I do not.... was going to look up a recipe before I go shopping on Saturday.