Pasotto? You may be asking yourself,"Huh? What's that?". Or you may be looking at the word and (correctly) guessing it has something to do with pasta, risotto or both. Well, I will simply answer with: It is the only way I want to cook pasta now!
It all started when I saw a post on Lifehacker extolling the virtues of this ingenious and flavorful method of cooking pasta. That post linked to a post over at the Atlantic here where a line cook details how she came to embrace pasotto as her favorite method. So I decided to give it a go. I will now take you along as I concoct some of the best-tasting pasta dishes I have ever made.
As I mentioned above you might have correctly surmised from the word "pasotto" that it involves pasta, risotto or both. It is basically pasta cooked in the method of a risotto. You saute the pasta in some type of oil or fat and then slowly add your cooking liquid in batches allowing the pasta to absorb each one until you have a level of done-ness to your liking. Unlike risotto it does not need constant stirring so it is lower maintenance and unlike traditional pasta methods you don't need to boil a big pot of water. Which in the heat of summer is a welcome relief! Plus, this is pretty much a one dish meal so less to clean up! Now if this sounds intimidating let me just say if you've ever made a box of Rice-A-Roni then you can do this. The difference is you won't be adding all the liquid at once and you won't be dumping in a packet of seasoning laden with salt, artificial flavors and who-knows-what-else!
So, what do you need to make pasotto? While it could be as simple as pasta and broth/stock/water adding things like a protein and vegetables are what makes this a great one-dish meal. I have made a couple of variations to show you and here is my "formula":
- Pick a protein that is fairly quick-cooking. Sausage, bacon, diced chicken or beef, crab or shrimp is great too. If you're vegetarian try tofu or beans.
- Choose a short type of pasta. This does not work for long pastas such as linguine or spaghetti.
- Choose some vegetables that go with your protein well.
- Add in some aromatics such as onion, garlic, wine & herbs.
- Choose your cooking liquid. Homemade stock is preferable but canned or boxed from the store works very well and while I wouldn't use water alone it can be used in combination with the stock or broth. The whole point behind this method of cooking is that you are infusing flavor into the pasta with each addition of liquid as opposed to the usual boiling in salted water.
One important thing to note: I do not add salt in either of these recipes as the proteins I use are both quite salty to begin with and I am using store-bought chicken stock or broth which also has salt. Since this cooking method basically reduces the liquids repeatedly I caution against salting the ingredients because you can always add more at the table but you can't take it out if the pasta gets oversalted!
Ok, enough chit chat, let's get to cooking!
Bacon & Portobello Mushroom Rotini
Start by cutting or chopping about 4 slices of bacon into bite-sized pieces into your deep saute pan or in my case an electric skillet. If you are vegetarian you can skip this and just start with sauteeing the mushrooms in butter.
Saute over medium-high heat until crisp and fat has rendered out. Remove bacon pieces onto paper-towel lined plate and set aside. Add a couple tablespoons of butter and let melt and then add 2 roughly chopped portobello mushroom caps.
Saute until mushrooms are tender and add a bit of fresh ground black pepper. I also added garlic and onion powder but if you have it on hand add a handful of chopped onion and a clove of minced garlic to the 'shrooms and saute until tender.
If the mushrooms have soaked up most of the liquid (like mine did) add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil to the pan and let it heat back up until you hear it sizzling. Add about 8oz of pasta and stir to coat with the oil. I used a tri-color rotini here.
Let this saute much like you would the rice for a risotto or the dry ingredients in Rice-a-Roni until it's heated through and starting to smell kind of nutty. You won't get the toasty golden color like you do on rice but I just test a piece by touching between my thumb and forefinger and if it's hot then I proceed.
Add about 1/4 cup of white wine (if you do not/cannot drink alcohol just skip this step) and simmer while stirring occasionally until it's been absorbed. Then add your stock/broth until it just covers the pasta. Continue to simmer and occasionally stir until that has been absorbed. You can check for doneness then but most likely you will need to once again add stock and repeat. For my rotini I found I used about 20oz of stock in 3 additions all together before the pasta was al dente. Best way to tell is of course to taste a piece;) At the end with a little bit of liquid still in the pan I added about 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese and the bacon pieces back to the pan and folded it all in. The remaining liquids help to combine with the cheese to "sauce" the pasta.
I turned the heat off and let this sit for a few minutes before serving it with more cheese sprinkled on top along with some fresh grinds of black pepper.
Now in this dish I removed the bacon after cooking it so it wouldn't get soggy but I left the mushrooms in since I knew they would just soak up all the good flavors during the cooking time. When you are formulating your pasotto you need to think about cooking times for your different ingredients. Fresh veggies like green beans or zucchini should go in towards the end of cooking to remain crisp-tender whereas things like carrots would go in at the beginning. Chicken or beef would benefit from remaining in the pan throughout the process to absorb moisture as well as continuing to flavor the pasta, but tofu or canned beans would probably do better if added toward the end so they don't break down and get too mushy.
Now here's another pasotto combo I made:
Sausage & Broccoli Bowtie Pasotto
For this one I sauteed half a horseshoe link of smoked turkey kielbasa that had been sliced into half-moon slices about 1/4" thick. Then I added a couple tablespoons of olive oil and a smattering of red pepper flakes. I added 8oz of bowtie pasta (farfalle) and tossed to coat. Once heated through I added 1/4 cup of white wine and let that get absorbed.
Now add your stock to cover and proceed as in the previous recipe. For this one though when the pasta is still a bit undercooked toss in a couple of handfuls of broccoli pieces and add a bit more broth. Cover and let cook (basically steaming the broccoli) until broccoli is tender then uncover and let simmer until liquid is absorbed and pasta is done, if needed. Add parmesan cheese and lemon pepper to taste. I loooove lemon pepper with broccoli!
I hope I've inspired you to try pasotto and have fun coming up with your own combinations.
So, what's for dinner tonight Kossacks?