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A lot of our food traditions and habits we learn from our parents at an early age. Take pasta sauce. I come from a large Italian family, so we had spaghetti every single week when I was growing up. My mom made her sauce (my dad's recipe, and I'm not exaggerating when I say it was award-winning) and when we put it on the pasta, we put a lot. Not enough so it gets all watery and the pasta is swimming, but certainly enough to cover the pasta out to the edge (more than the photo above).
Now here comes Mark Bittman at The New York Times who agrees with this approach. While most cookbooks will tell you to make a lot of pasta and just add a couple of ladels of sauce in the middle of the plate, Bittman suggests you turn the amounts around and make twice as much sauce as pasta. Mario Batali, in a video from Serious Eats after the jump, disagrees.
How do you sauce your pasta?
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1-11-2009 @4:44PM Michele Fournier said... I would have to agree with Frank. That is someone who knows how to savor life!
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10-18-2007 @12:07PM Trey said... Actually, Bittman specifically disagrees with that method! He advocates for using a lot of sauce when the sauce is vegetable-based, but not meat-based, cheese-based, or cream-based.
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10-18-2007 @12:17PM Bob Sassone said... Well, I wouldn't say he disagrees with putting a lot of sauce on pasta. In the article he's for it, though he does specify it's better for vegetable-based sauces. But overall he's not against putting a lot of sauce on pasta, that's the premise of the column.
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10-18-2007 @12:31PM beanspants said... my mom's red meat spagetti sauce was also awesome (never been to an italian restaurant that even came close) so we all were big saucers. hers was thick, so there was no worries about wateryness.
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10-18-2007 @12:42PM Dan said... I think one thing we have to understand about Mario's comment is: The Italians (from Italy) have their pasta as part of a meal (and therefore would use less sauce so as not to fill up) whereas North Americans typically have it as the main course (and like most of our meals, we eat tooooo much). I think this is where the difference become most evident.
As for my vote, I was/am a heavy meat saucer!
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10-18-2007 @3:14PM kristin said... I like a little bit of pasta with my thick meat sauce. then I eat out the pasta and pile the sauce up on my garlic bread. I'm sure I'm breaking all kinds of pasta rules.
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10-18-2007 @4:07PM Patrick said... Well, yes, he does condone using more sauce, but he specifies particular conditions. In other words, #1 is correct in pointing out that this is not really a universal endorsement of the "more sauce" approach. If your sauce consists of fresh chopped tomatoes, zucchini, bell peppers, garlic, etc. (you know, vegetables) then yes, pile it on. If your sauce is a plain tomato or meat sauce, this article does not apply to you.
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10-18-2007 @5:07PM Dan said... We just moved and don't have a stove yet. We use a griddle to mix the pasta, sauce, meat, and veggies. Everyone gets to choose what they want mixed in, and it takes me about 8 minutes to serve it up....more fun and the little burnt "crispies" on the grill give the pasta even more intense flavor....
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10-18-2007 @5:47PM Hillary said... I'm with Batali. These days I like the pasta more than the sauce! I blogged about this too once Bittman's article came out.
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10-18-2007 @7:49PM alosha7777 said... I was with hilary (and batali) on this one - I like less sauce.
aloshaskitchen.blogspot.com
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10-18-2007 @10:58PM Amanda said... I think he's mostly suggesting more veggies and less pasta as opposed to more sauce. I would tend to agree with him. The more people eat veggies the better off they'll be.
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10-19-2007 @12:24PM Anthony said... I remember when I did my college semester abroad near Florence, my host family didn't really use that much sauce. Definitely not so much as to have swimming pasta, but barely enough to scrape the plate with a crust of bread. Kind of a change from all the "red-sauce" joints here in New York, but I liked it. To this day I like my pasta a little "dry".
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10-19-2007 @1:21PM druchyun said... Mario also always reminds us to salt our water, and use plenty of it.. The pasta is the star here, and needs star treatment, like Americans would treat a filet. But I agree with Dan, pasta is one of several courses in a typical italian meal and it seems to me that Bittman is coming from a healthly eating perspective and trying to make a more well rounded main dish pasta. Bittman is taking into consideration the efficient, fast-paced American lifestyle and dining style, so I understand why he is preaching a more nutrient-valuable approach to dressing pasta.
In a sense I think they're both right. The only ones that are wrong, are the Prego and Ragu eaters (under 12 yrs old exempt). Want a real canned sauce? Trader Joe's Tuscano Marinara. Read the ingredients, it's like they got Mario Batali's basic marinara recipe and put it into production.
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10-19-2007 @8:11PM sturgeon said... I sometimes sauce heavy, like witha thick meaty sauce, or light, if i want the pasta to stand out. Like Dan said, it depends if its a big one course pasta supper, or the pasta is just one of several dishes. Right now, I have about 6 pounds of heirloom tomatoes from the end of season harvest, so I will be saucing heavy (very HEAVY), this weekend.All depends on the type of meal, I like both
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10-21-2007 @8:39PM Gobo said... I prefer less sauce and more pasta, but seems like all of my east-coast friends eat their pasta the same way: with tons of sauce and piled onto garlic bread, eaten as an open-face sandwich. Strange.
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10-22-2007 @11:51AM kurt said... Not a cook here. Not even Italian. That said, this is good for me: take a can of diced tomatoes. Dump the juice into a pot. Cook down to a sauce with any spices you like. Throw the tomatoes back in there until they heat up and dump onto some firm pasta. Delicious, and it lets you experiment with spices! If you throw some soy sausages into the sauce as it warms, you get a more hearty dish with no more work.
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10-22-2007 @2:17PM C Webb said... Personally I don't believe in a "right way" and a "wrong way" to eat any food - just go with YOUR way and relish it. I enjoy pasta both ways (as a plain American-for-generations eater/cook). When it's a side dish I like to emphasize the pasta and dress it fairly lightly. When it's a main dish I like a LOT of veggie-based sauce, with a small to modest amount meat in it or cheese sprinkled on top. Delish both ways.
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10-25-2007 @6:19AM Peter said... Some of this seems to be regional as well. I don't know many Italians from Brooklyn who don't pile on the sauce. Whatever floats your (gravy) boat!
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10-25-2007 @6:22AM André said... "There's no wrong way to eat a Reese's" and honestly, there is no wrong way to eat pasta. Eat healthy portions and exercise. The rest is all opinion.
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10-25-2007 @6:33AM Frank Suchara said... As a proud Italian-American I can respect all of the above. In Italy the pasta is the star of the show because it is a part of the meal and not the entire meal. I love it all the time, anytime and the thought of making sauce, drinking wine, listening to Sinatra,Louie Prima and all the boys that prepares me to mangia Big Time is what its really all about, isn't it ?
PS : Bittman...That's not Italian is it ? What makes him an expert ?
Frank
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