Welcome to the Food Mentor. I’m Nick and I’m here to kick things off with a brief introduction.
First, it is important that we not be intimidated. I’ve met so many people that think that food is hard to prepare or who assume they will just screw it up if they try. The truth is, with some basic understanding, home cooked meals are easily within everyone’s grasp. So shed any negativity, and boost that confidence because you are going to be a great cook in no time.
Some of the best dishes are very simple in nature, often with just a handful of basic ingredients. It is our job as cooks or bakers to get the most flavor out of the ingredients and to prevent them from degrading by preparing them properly. We will start with our first recipe so you can jump right in while I illustrate what I mean about simplicity. You can dig deeper into the individual subjects from within this article as we link to more in depth articles for each of the main ingredients. Click on those links to gain additional insight and understanding.
This will be a common pattern that we will use on The Food Mentor so you can decide when to jump in and when to learn even more. Topics will often flow into each other but we will try to always allow for moving quickly so not to you bog you down.
Penne al Pomodoro
This is an Italian dish. The reason I am choosing an Italian recipe to start is one, it’s popularity, two, a lot of Italian cooking is actually rather simple. We will be covering many other styles in our journey but let’s start here. It is also called “Penne Marinara” and a handful of heathens call it “macaroni and sauce”.
This recipe has 5 ingredients (not counting salt or cheese) but can be done with four by leaving out the fresh basil. It can also be done in different ways as the main idea behind the dish is simply pasta with tomatoes. That’s it. Some people, my grandmother was one, would make this dish with fresh tomatoes that they jarred themselves. Others would make this dish by steaming the tomato skins off and running the peeled tomatoes through a mill to make the tomatoes into a thick seedless pulp for the sauce.
However, most people, myself included, just buy canned tomatoes from the grocery store and make it that way. None of these are wrong but the most important thing is that the ingredients are good. This is why part of the basics we will learn here at The Food Mentor is picking out the correct food at the grocery store. So let’s start.
The Tomato
The best tomatoes for this dish are canned San Marzano tomatoes as they are plump and sweet and relatively easy to find and use. I use the Italian brands such as Cento, Pastene, Nina, or Pomi. I recommend starting with one of those if you can find them and experiment from there to find the one you like best. Learn more in our tomato post.
While the pasta is the “star” of the dish, with Penne al Pomodoro the tomato is the main flavoring/dressing so I try to get the best I can find and always go with the whole peeled San Marzano variety.
So why all of this info? Why not just make the damn recipe? The main point is that this basic knowledge of the tomato is what will make this dish taste as good as it does. And this same knowledge for this standard and widely used ingredient is transferrable to countless other recipes.
To be a good cook you must understand some basic skills that we will cover but also a basic understanding of the ingredients we will use. We do not need to know everything about every ingredient but only certain families of ingredients. We’re covering two families right here. The tomato (since it’s a fruit treated as a vegetable its worth understanding it on its own) and pasta. If you follow the pasta link you will know most of what you would need to know about pasta which would correspond to everything from Rigatoni Mezzi to Ramen noodles.
The Pasta
This dish calls for dry pasta which is a pasta that is made with flour (usually durum or semolina flour) and water and dried. Do not use wet/egg pasta. Regular boxed pasta is what we need. You can learn more in our pasta post which I recommend if you’re a little uneasy about cooking pasta. If you’re not ready for a deeper dive then just grab a box of your favorite brand of penne and let’s get cooking.
The first step to an easier cooking experience is something the French called ‘mise en place’. Which means “everything in place”.
So, Lesson 1: Mise en place – Gather all of your ingredients, cookware, and utensils beforehand and have them within reach preferably in the place where they will be needed. (i.e. box of pasta by the stove where it will be poured into the pot of water)
In the directions section below I will lay out the entire process so you can learn the flow of making the recipe. Follow it as strictly as you can.
Important: Read through the directions once before starting the recipe.
Ingredients:
- 2 cans of San Marzano tomato (whole or crushed)
- 1 lb. Penne pasta
- 3 cloves of garlic (sliced)
- 1/4 cup fresh basil (chopped)
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tbsp kosher salt
- Romano or Parmigiano cheese freshly grated to taste (optional)
Directions:
Gather everything first. The garlic does not need to be sliced yet but you’ll certainly need a knife and a cutting board. The garlic should already be peeled. The basil should be washed and drying on some paper towel and should also be near the cutting board. Since there is no raw meat here we can use the same cutting board for both the garlic and the basil.
You will also need a large pot capable of holding 4 quarts of boiling water and a large saucepan that can hold two cans of tomatoes. You will need a large spoon for stirring the pasta and the sauce. The tops of your cans of tomatoes should be rinsed with water and wiped clean. You’ll need a can opener to open those cans so get that too. In fact, at this point I’d open the cans and put the can opener in the sink and place the opened cans near the stove. I’d also open the box of pasta and pre-measure the salt into a small dish and put all of that near the stove as well.
You can leave the cheese in the fridge for now but you’ll want to grab your cheese grater. You can buy pre-grated cheese but it is not as flavorful and if you buy some of the cheaper brands found in the grocery store you’ll be surprised to learn that a lot of the times “fillers” are added to bulk the product up and prevent clumping. I’d prefer to have just cheese and often the un-grated block of cheese is cheaper per ounce than the stuff in a container.
The above is the same thought process you should always have prior to making any recipe. Ask yourself — What will I need? And where? And gather it all. You will forget things at first but with time you will forget less and less.
Once you’ve gathered everything, you’re ready to start. Let’s get cooking!
Add 4 quarts of water to a pot and put it on the stove to boil. While the water is heating let’s head to the cutting board and thinly slice the garlic and add it to the other pot. This isn’t a restaurant so don’t worry about slicing the garlic perfectly. In fact, some people just crack the garlic with the side of a knife and use it that way. It’s perfectly fine to do it that way.
Add the olive oil to the pot with the garlic and put it on a medium-low heat. While that is heating go back to the cutting board and chop up the basil and leave it on your board in a neat little pile.
At this point you should be able to smell the garlic and may be seeing a gentle sizzle. Give it a stir and remove it from the burner. (turn the burner off too) You do not want brown the garlic. It’s ok if there’s a bit of a golden color but don’t let the color get to a deeper brown. Be careful because it happens quickly. Your tomato cans should be right by the stove since we setup that way so you don’t have to worry about the garlic getting brown while you look for the tomatoes. Note that at this step you can hurt yourself a bit so, let’s break the process down.
You are going to tilt the pot away from you a bit (about 15 to 20 degrees), bringing the oil to one side of the pot which is the side furthest from you. Now take the can of tomatoes and pour steadily into the side closest to you which should be away from the bulk of the oil. The oil will squirt so make sure your hands are outside of the pot but not so high that you splash the oil and tomato around. If done correctly it is a swift and smooth pour which creates a quick sizzle which is quickly extinguished from the rest of the pour.
Adding the second can is a non-issue. Just pour it in and return the pot the burner, set it to medium heat and give it a stir.
At this point your water might be boiling. If it isn’t then it’s a great time to clean that kitchen knife and can opener. Cleaning while cooking also makes cooking more enjoyable as there’s less to clean afterward. (we will cover this in a later article)
If it is boiling then add the salt being careful not to get too close as the water will react to the salt. Then add your pasta and quickly stir it. Do not cover it with a lid as it will boil over. Once the water returns to a boil stir it again. You will want to stir this occasionally to prevent the pasta from sticking together as it cooks particularly in the beginning. Set a timer on your phone for the length of time that is recommended on the pasta box less a minute or two.
Now’s a good time to stir the sauce as well. You’ll want to bring the sauce to a low simmer and stir it occasionally to prevent the sauce from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Take a teaspoon and use it to taste the sauce. Does it need salt? If so add some. If not then leave it be. Tasting is important when cooking. Always taste your food. (don’t use the same spoon though)
At this point we are waiting for everything to cook. If the sauce isn’t simmering yet then raise the heat under it. We want it to simmer for about 10 minutes and we want it ready when the pasta is done.
Once the timer goes off for your pasta turn the heat off. With a slotted spoon get a piece of pasta and taste it. It should be firm but if there is any rawness to it then turn the heat back on and cook it a bit longer. We want the pasta to be very close to fully cooked as it will continue to cook with a bit of sauce. This is something that will also take a bit of practice.
Run some cold water in your sink and bring the pasta pot with the lid to the sink. With a kitchen towel, hold the lid against the pot and expose the lip of the pot so that water can get through but not so much of an opening that pasta can get through.
Keep your hands and the towel clear from the opening of the pot. Now gently tilt the pot away from you into the sink near the cold running water. Pour low enough not to get splashed yet high enough not get burned with steam (this is why we are running some cold water). Do not completely drain the pot. We want about 3/4 cup of pasta water to remain in the pot.
Now return the pot to the burner with the lid off and put the heat on low and give the pasta a stir. Check the amount of liquid. If is more than 3/4 cup (about) then drain it some more. If it is less then keep the pot covered as much as possible.
With a non slotted spoon. Add about 1 -1/2 cups of sauce to the pasta pot and stir it. Let it simmer for a minute and then stir it some more. You should see the sauce starting to cling to the pasta. After half a minute, stir it again and taste it. Is it cooked? Does it need some more salt? Add salt or cook more as needed.
Note: If the pasta dries up before its cooked then the pasta was too undercooked when you took the pot off or you did not leave enough liquid. No worries. To fix that add a bit of water and a bit of sauce and let it cook some more with the lid on. Careful that the pasta doesn’t stick to the bottom.
The dish at this point is done. Turn the heat off the pasta and the sauce. Put some pasta in each dish. Top it with a bit more sauce and some chopped fresh basil. Let your guests add their own cheese with the grater or grate some up in a dish for them to use. I recommend a bit of cheese.
You did it!
