Pasta Beyond the Plate
Cooking Skills: Pasta 1
Chapter 8 · Pasta Beyond the Plate
Skill goal
Use pasta in soups, salads and leftover dishes, and avoid the mushy-pasta trap.
Shopping list for this chapter
The basics
Pasta isn't only a plate of pasta and sauce. Small shapes go into soups, where they thicken the broth, and cooked pasta makes the base for salads and for new dishes from leftovers. This chapter is about the flexibility of what you have already learned.
| Use | Pasta shape | How to cook it |
|---|---|---|
| Soup | Ditalini, small macaroni, orzo, broken spaghetti | Add to the simmering soup for the last 8 to 10 minutes |
| Pasta salad | Fusilli, farfalle, penne | Cook fully, rinse, cool, dress |
| Leftover dishes | Anything plain or in a light sauce | Bind with egg, or reheat with a splash of water |
- Pasta cooked in a soup releases starch and thickens it, but it keeps swelling, so leftovers get mushy.
- For salads dress the pasta while it is warm with oil and acid so it absorbs flavour, or after it is fully cooled if the dressing is creamy.
- For leftovers, always check the age and storage first.
Try it
Level 1 · Start here
Minestrone with pasta
A soup that can use whatever vegetables are in the drawer. The pasta goes in near the end, so it doesn't turn to mush.
Ingredients (4 portions)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 carrot, diced
- 1 celery stick, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1 courgette, diced
- 100 g green beans, cut into 2 cm pieces
- 400 g tin chopped tomatoes
- 1 litre hot reduced-salt vegetable stock
- 400 g tin cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 60 g small pasta (ditalini or short macaroni)
- 1 handful of basil leaves
- 20 g parmesan, grated, to serve
- Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Cook the onion, carrot and celery for 8 minutes, until soft. Add the garlic for 1 minute.
- Add the courgette, green beans, tomatoes and stock. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add the cannellini beans and pasta and simmer for the pasta cooking time (about 8 to 10 minutes), stirring now and then to stop the pasta sticking. Add a splash of water if the soup is too thick.
- Stir in the basil and serve with the parmesan.
Soup with pasta in it doesn't keep well
Pasta keeps soaking up the liquid and goes soft and swollen in a leftover soup. If you want to freeze or store some, take the portions out before adding the pasta, and cook small pasta separately for each bowl.
Level 2 · Thick and rustic
Pasta e ceci (pasta and chickpeas)
Half soup, half pasta dish. Part of the chickpeas are mashed to thicken it, and the pasta cooks right in the pot, so its starch makes the broth creamy.
Ingredients (2 portions)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, sliced
- 1 rosemary sprig
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 400 g tin chickpeas, with their liquid
- 400 ml hot reduced-salt stock or water
- 60 g small pasta (ditalini or tubetti)
- 1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil, to finish
- 1 pinch dried chilli flakes (optional)
- Warm the oil with the garlic and rosemary in a medium pan over a low heat for 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato purée for 1 minute.
- Add the chickpeas and their liquid and the stock. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Take out the rosemary. Mash about a third of the chickpeas against the side of the pan.
- Add the pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until tender, stirring often. The mixture should be thick but spoonable: add water if it gets stiff.
- Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of chilli.
Level 2 · Summer
Pesto pasta salad with beans and tomatoes
Jarred pesto is thick, so it needs loosening to coat the pasta evenly. A spoonful of the pasta's cooking water does that.
Ingredients (1 portion)
- 75 g dried fusilli
- 80 g green beans, trimmed and halved
- 2 tbsp green pesto from a jar
- 6 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 30 g mozzarella pearls
- 1 handful rocket
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- Boil the pasta in salted water. Add the green beans for the last 3 minutes. Scoop out 4 tablespoons of the cooking water, then drain.
- Mix the pesto with the cooking water in a bowl until it forms a loose sauce. Add the pasta and beans and toss.
- For a warm salad, add the tomatoes, mozzarella, rocket and lemon juice and serve at once. For a cold one, let the pasta cool completely first (spread it on a plate), then add the rest.
Level 3 · Use it up
Frittata di pasta (a pasta omelette)
Cold leftover pasta is bound with egg into a thick omelette. A good way to use leftover plain or tomato pasta, as long as it is fresh enough.
Ingredients (2 portions)
- 150 g cold cooked pasta (about 75 g dry), from the fridge and less than 24 hours old
- 4 Lion-marked medium eggs
- 30 g parmesan, grated
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley
- 50 g peas (frozen is fine)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ small onion, finely chopped
- Beat the eggs with the parmesan, parsley and pepper. Heat the grill to high.
- Heat the oil in a medium non-stick, ovenproof frying pan (about 20 cm) over a medium heat. Soften the onion for 3 minutes. Add the pasta and peas and stir for 2 minutes until hot through.
- Pour in the egg mixture, turn the heat to low and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, until the edges are set and the base is golden.
- Put the pan under the grill for 2 to 3 minutes, until the top is set and lightly golden. The eggs must be fully set with no liquid left. Slide onto a board and cut into wedges.
Experiments
Experiment
Pasta cooked in the soup, or separately
What happens to the broth?
- Make half a batch of minestrone. Cook the pasta for one bowl directly in the soup. Cook the pasta for another bowl separately in salted water and add it to the hot soup in the bowl.
- Compare how cloudy and thick the broth is, and how the pasta tastes.
Look for: The pasta cooked in the soup makes it thicker and starchy, with more flavour in the pasta. The pasta cooked separately gives a clearer broth and better texture, especially if the soup is stored.
Experiment
Dressed warm or dressed cold
When should a pasta salad meet its dressing?
- Make the pesto salad twice. Dress one batch of pasta while warm, and the other after it has cooled completely.
- Taste both after an hour.
Look for: The warm pasta absorbs more of the pesto and tastes more strongly of it. The cooled pasta keeps a fresher, lighter taste. Which suits you?
Experiment
Leftover pasta reheated three ways
What's the best way to bring leftovers back?
- Take three small portions of plain cold pasta (less than 24 hours old). Microwave one with a splash of water, covered. Warm one in a frying pan with a splash of water and the lid on. Fry one in a little oil until crisp at the edges.
- Make sure each is steaming hot all the way through, then taste.
Look for: The microwave is quickest but can be gummy, the covered pan is better, and the fried version is crisp. Reheat only once.
Tasting notes
| What I tried | Method or amount | What I saw | What I thought | Will I do it again? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minestrone | ||||
| Pasta e ceci | ||||
| Pesto pasta salad | ||||
| Frittata di pasta | ||||
| Pasta in soup vs separate | ||||
| Dressed warm vs cold | ||||
| Leftovers reheated three ways |
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Pasta mushy in soup | Added too early or left to stand | Add near the end; cook it separately for leftovers |
| Soup too thick the next day | Pasta absorbed the broth | Loosen with hot stock or water |
| Pasta salad dry | Pasta absorbed the dressing | Add a little more oil and lemon just before serving |
| Frittata falls apart | Not enough egg, or flipped too soon | Let it set before moving; finish under the grill |
| Frittata runny in the middle | Under-cooked | Cook longer; the eggs must be fully set |
| Reheated pasta gluey | Reheated dry | Add a splash of water and cover |
Food safety: soups, salads and leftovers
Cool big pots of soup quickly (stand the pan in a sink of cold water, divide into shallow tubs) and refrigerate within an hour or two. Pasta salad in a lunchbox needs an ice pack. The frittata uses Lion eggs, and must be set all the way through. Cooked pasta is a starchy food, and like rice it can grow bacteria if it is left warm. There is no pasta-specific official guidance, so this course uses the cautious rule: cool it quickly (within about an hour), put it in the fridge, and eat it within 24 hours; freeze it if you won't. Reheat until steaming hot all the way through.
Checkpoint: can you do this now?
- I can make a soup with pasta that isn't mushy.
- I can make a pasta salad with the right dressing.
- I can use leftover pasta safely in a frittata.
- I know how long leftover pasta keeps.
- I can reheat pasta without it turning gluey.
Next chapter
Cooking Skills: Pasta 1, chapter 9 is Putting It Together: a freezer sauce day, a week of pasta meals and a pasta supper for four.