Pasta 101

Did you know that you can cook pasta in the Anova Precision Oven? This convenient method uses far less water than stovetop boiling, and has no risk of boiling over. Plus, the pasta cooks hands-free, so you don’t need to stand there babysitting it. We're cooking the noodles in far less water, so the starch on the outside of the pasta doesn't become as diluted as in traditional boiling. This helps the pasta hold onto sauce, rather than leaving it behind in the bowl. Pasta cooks by absorbing water. By using full steam in the oven, plus liquid water in the sheet pan, we create ideal conditions for perfectly cooked, al dente noodles. Notes: You can adapt this method to use many different pasta shapes. Long pasta shapes, like spaghetti and linguine, fit well in a 9- by 13-inch baking dish, while short pastas, like elbows, work better in a deep, round cast iron skillet. Small pastas, like orzo, cook more quickly than spaghetti, so begin checking at 18 minutes. This method isn’t ideal for large tube pastas, such as rigatoni.