Back in February, I heard about the New York Times article Do You Need All That Water to Boil Pasta? from one of the many cooking blogs I subscribe to, and I bookmarked the link for later. When I finally got around to reading the article, I had a knee-jerk reaction to the concept of cooking pasta in tiny quantities of water — after all, everything I’ve ever read or heard calls for using TONS of water to cook pasta. If you’ve ever watched a Good Eats episode dealing with pasta, you know what I’m talking about! But as I read on in the article, I got more and more curious to try this, and when I finally did it was definitely a Eureka! moment. How come I never heard of this before? I really have a hard time believing that something this good could be new . . .
The NY Times gives a basic recipe for little-water pasta with garlic, to which I’ve added green beans to make it main-dish-worthy. After all, what’s the point of a one-pan recipe if it doesn’t make an entire meal?
When you go to try this little-water pasta technique for the first time, you’re going to think it’s really weird. Trust me on this one. If you decide to make spaghetti like I did, it probably won’t all fit in the water until it softens up. And again, if you’re like me, you’ll get really annoyed at having to continually stir the stiff strands that stick out trying to escape. But stick with it, in just a few minutes it’ll soften up enough to submerge and it won’t seem so strange anymore. You do need to keep stiring, though, or the pasta will stick together. But you knew that already.
Green beans are generally available all year long, but I found some particularly gorgeous fresh ones recently that just had to come home with me. This recipe would work with frozen green beans too, but you may need to play with the steaming time. Be sure to test the beans after you steam them, you’re aiming for a just-lightly-cooked, still-crunchy consistency. It plays really nicely with the soft and creamy pasta.
Important! You definitely want to eat this right away, or it will get really gummy. If you have leftovers like I did, you can certainly reheat later, but be prepared for the pasta to stick together and NOT be presentable.
Spaghetti & Green Beans in very little water (serves 2-4)
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- Half pound dry spaghetti (or other pasta if you prefer)
- 1 teaspoons salt
- pinch of crushed red pepper (optional, but really adds to the whole thing!)
- 2 cups green beans
Place green beans in a microwave-safe bowl, add a tablespoon of water, and cover with plastic wrap. Steam beans for about 1 minute on high. If needed, steam for an additional 30 seconds at a time until desired consistency (don’t overcook them!). Set beans aside for later.
In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, brown garlic in 1 tablespoon oil. Remove garlic to plate and save for later.
Add pasta and salt to pan, then cover with 4 cups cold water. Cook pasta uncovered over high heat, stirring always, until pasta is almost al dente (about 8 minutes). Spoon off as much liquid as possible into a bowl, leaving very little liquid in the pan. Add remaining oil, garlic, green beans, and red pepper, then spoon back some cooking liquid on top to make a sauce. Resist the urge to add enough liquid to cover, you don’t want this too runny. Salt to taste. Serve immediately.
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My husband and I had a discussion just the other night about the small amount of water he was using to boil our pasta…to my surprise it turned out just fine! -k