7 Pasta Recipes Every Home Cook Should Know | Epicurious

I'm Frank Proto, professional chef and culinary instructor. And today I'm going to show you how to make lasagna Frank style. We're talking cheesy, creamy, melty, and delectable lasagna. This is lasagna 101.

Making the sauce for your lasagna is definitely a process. This is the flavor base of our lasagna. Basically, the heart of the lasagna. We're going to build layers. We're not just going to dump everything into the pot at once.

build layers. We're not just going to dump everything into the pot at once.

We're going to brown things off, season things as we go so that we have a really nice balanced sauce at the end. Everyone has their own way of making lasagna.

Mine tends to be rustic, a little more homey. There are lasagnas that you make a bashamel sauce and it's silky and creamy, but at the end of the day, I want this to be super accessible to you out there. I have my pot on the stove. I

have been getting it hot. I'm going to add some oil. I'm going to get my pork and I'm going to season it up. I'm using a pork country style rib. It's got a really good fat to meat ratio. I feel that pork and tomatoes really kind of

blend well together and it gives your sauce this really nice mellow taste. So

spread them out in an even layer so it starts to get brown. And at this point, I say this a lot, leave it alone. Once it starts to get brown, it's going to unstick from the bottom of the pot and then we can move it around. But give it

time. The pork in the pot's going to take 5 to 7 minutes. Remember, we're

time. The pork in the pot's going to take 5 to 7 minutes. Remember, we're

building layers of flavor and this is where we want to be. If you look at that, that is the brown that we want on most of the sides. If they're not all brown like that, we're okay. But try and get some brown like that on at least two

or three sides of your pork. So, while that's browning, I'm going to come over and get my sausage ready. I got sausage in the casing. You just get a pairing knife, cut off the casing. I chose spicy Italian sausage cuz I want a little heat

in my sauce. I love the flavor that the chili flakes give. The sausage adds a little more fat, adds a little more flavor. We're going to get a little more deeper flavored sauce when we use two types of meat. All right, so the pork is

now getting nice and brown. Look at that. That's what I want. You can see that the pork is also giving off some fat cuz that fat's going to help us brown our vegetables. The pork looks like it's done. I'm going to take it out and put into a bowl, but I'm going to use a slotted spoon cuz I want to leave

the fat in the pot. That fat is one of those foundational pieces of our flavor.

So, don't get rid of the fat. If you look at the bottom of the pan, what do I have in there? You guys should know this by now. It's called font. F O N D. And

that is all the little brown bits and caramelized pieces of pork and the juices on the bottom of the pot. Do not get rid of that. This is again part of our flavor base and foundation. Going to leave the fat in the pot. And then I'm

going to take my sausage and I'm going to get that into the pot. I don't want large chunks in there. So, I'm going to break it up and start browning this off.

My sausage is ready to go. Even if it's not fully cooked now, I'm not too worried because it's going to be in the sauce for a long time and it's going to cook through then. So, I'm just going to turn this pot on really low right now.

And I'm going to get that same slotted spoon and take the sausage out and just put it right on top of my brown pork ribs. Try and leave some of those juices and fat in there. Fat equals flavor, people. Don't be afraid of it. If

there's a little left in there, it's okay. Don't worry about it. Put that

aside. It's going to go back into the pot in a minute. Now's the time where we start to get our vegetables going. Onions go in. Whenever I put onions in the pot, I always add a little bit of salt. Part of that layering of flavor is

seasoning throughout the process. If we add a little salt as we go, we get a nice balanced seasoning to our finished sauce. I want you to take a second and listen to what's going on in my pot. Yes, I said listen. I hear snap, crackle, pop. I hear

sizzling, not hissing. And that's what you want. If you hear hissing, that means we're steaming our onions and not sautéing them. So, if all you hear is hissing, turn up your heat. Maybe add a little more oil, but we want to hear snapping and crackling and popping and sizzling. Now's the time to add some of

the more aromatic vegetables. We're going to add the carrots and we're going to add the celery. I have about two ribs of celery and about two small carrots.

And this I don't worry about getting caramelized at this point. I just want it to start to soften a little. The celery and carrots are getting nice and soft. And the garlic goes in last in this process because garlic burns really

and soft. And the garlic goes in last in this process because garlic burns really quickly. And we're going to cook the garlic till it's fragrant. I don't need

quickly. And we're going to cook the garlic till it's fragrant. I don't need to brown it. I just want to smell roasty garlic. The garlic is nice and toasty.

And the next thing we're going to add is dry white wine. This is going to give our sauce a nice roundness, a little bit of acidity. It's also going to help pick up all of the fond from the bottom of the pot. Those little brown bits are

going to get mixed in with the wine and make our sauce nice and caramelized.

While my wine is cooking down, I'm going to make a bouquet garnier. Sounds fancy,

but basically it's just a bundle of herbs that we tie with some butcher twine. I have basil. I fold the basil into itself a little and then I twist

twine. I have basil. I fold the basil into itself a little and then I twist around opposite directions so that you meet in the middle and you can tie. We

bundle it together so it's easy to remove. It adds flavor to our sauce, but then we can take it out really easily. Throw that in right now and just let our wine continue to cook. The wine's been happily bubbling away. If I take a

whiff, the alcohol is cooked off and it's time to move on to the next step.

I'm going to add the tomatoes. And I chose a ground peeled tomato. This is a great place to save a little time. If I got whole peeled tomatoes, I'd have to grind them up. These don't have any skins in them, and they're the right size for our sauce. All the tomatoes go in. Save the cans cuz we're going to

rinse them out. And I used to think that this was done just to get the rest of the tomatoes. But there's another reason for it. When we add water to our sauce,

the tomatoes. But there's another reason for it. When we add water to our sauce, it gives our sauce a longer cooking time, which gives it more time to develop flavor. If we just add the tomatoes in, it's going to reduce too

develop flavor. If we just add the tomatoes in, it's going to reduce too much too quickly. So, what I'm going to do now is let the tomatoes come to a simmer. I'm going to add a nice grinding of fresh pepper, a nice pinch of salt, a

simmer. I'm going to add a nice grinding of fresh pepper, a nice pinch of salt, a little bit of chili flake cuz we do have hot sausage in there, but I do want to supplement that with a little more heat. Stir that in. Let it come to a simmer.

So, let's give it a taste. You got to be careful here because this is going to reduce, but I do think it needs a little more salt. Just a nice pinch. Stir it

in. The sauce is bubbling away. I'm going to lower my heat from high to medium, and I'm going to add all the meat back with all of the juices. Give

it a stir. You could probably go a little lower on the heat to kind of medium low. Let it cook low and slow for about an hour and a half until

medium low. Let it cook low and slow for about an hour and a half until everything comes together, the pork gets tender, and then we can make our lasagna. My sauce has been on for about an hour and a half. If you look at it,

lasagna. My sauce has been on for about an hour and a half. If you look at it, it's got a really nice deep red color, a little sheen of oil on top, which is always nice. And the pork is nice and tender. So, what we're going to do now

always nice. And the pork is nice and tender. So, what we're going to do now is we're going to remove that bouquet garnier. It's done its work. It's given

its flavor up for the sauce. And we're also going to remove our pork so that we can kind of just chop it up and shred it. So, go through the sauce. When you

cut into that lasagna, you want to get the perfect bite every time. And by

shredding the pork, we're allowing that to happen. The pork has been cooking long enough in the sauce that we really don't need to do much to shred it. It

falls apart really nice. And this goes right back into the sauce. Now, I'm

going to take this basil and shred it up and add it to the sauce. A lot of times when you're cooking things like this for a long time, they can get kind of heavy and like kind of stodgy and the basil just kind of gives it a little lift towards the end. My sauce looks really good, but I am going to adjust the

consistency a little with some water. I'm using dry pasta for this. So, the

pasta is going to soak up a lot of sauce, and I don't want it to be too wet or too dry. So, a little liquidy on my sauce is where I want to be. We've taken

all this time to build the layers in this sauce, and it's totally paid off.

It's time to make our lasagna. It's time to assemble the lasagna. And

most of the hard work is done already. We've made our sauce. Assembly can be a lot of fun, but it's also a crucial step in getting the right consistency. You

don't want to add too much sauce. You don't want to add too little cheese.

Remember, we want that perfect bite all the way through. The first step to layering our lasagna is you want to put a nice bit of sauce on the bottom. We

don't want it sticking to the bottom or drying out on the bottom. So the sauce goes down. Lasagna already takes a lot of time and effort. I like to use dry

goes down. Lasagna already takes a lot of time and effort. I like to use dry pasta because it's simple and easy. There are some pasta products out there called oven ready, which are no cook pastas. I'm using regular pasta. I have

seasoned my sauce. I have adjusted the consistency. The pasta is going to soak up all that good flavor. It's going to go right into the pasta instead of just salted water. When I'm layering my lasagna, I like to put sauce on the

salted water. When I'm layering my lasagna, I like to put sauce on the pasta itself. Right? So, it's going to be sauce, pasta, sauce, and then the

pasta itself. Right? So, it's going to be sauce, pasta, sauce, and then the cheese cuz I want the sauce to soak into the pasta. Next step, we're going to add some of our grated cheese. I have pecarino and parmesan. I like the

sharpness of pecarino. I like the nuttiness of parmesan. I'm going to add some shredded mozzarella. I'm using a low moisture mozzarella. Fresh

mozzarella has a lot of liquid. I don't want extra liquid in there. And then

some ricotta. And with the ricotta, I dab it on. Right. This will spread out and melt a little, but I just like to put dabs around. So, we're just building those layers of flavor. And when I use all these cheeses, it gives me that nice

balance between creamy and acidic. And then another layer of pasta. I am going to push down just a little. Right. I want this to be a little compact. I

don't want it to be like light and fluffy. I want it to be nice and dense.

So, if the pasta overlaps a little, that's fine. And then another layer of sauce. Remember, the pasta should be touching the sauce. And then we go again

sauce. Remember, the pasta should be touching the sauce. And then we go again with everything else. And you notice that I'm getting into the corners as well. Make sure we're spreading this evenly. And it's not just a lump of

well. Make sure we're spreading this evenly. And it's not just a lump of cheese in the middle. That each corner piece is going to have some cheese flavor, too. And for our last layer, I'm just going to add the grated cheeses. I

flavor, too. And for our last layer, I'm just going to add the grated cheeses. I

don't want the ricotta on top there because ricotta tends to dry out and it's going to get crumbly. I leave the ricotta insides where it's going to stay nice and moist and not on the top. Before I put it in the oven, I'm going

to put it onto a sheet tray or a cookie sheet. You can see that our sauce is kind of like almost overflowing. So, if it overflows, it goes onto the tray, not into my oven. Last thing we need to do is cover this with foil. I want to keep a lot of the moisture in there. And I kind of want it to steam just a little

cuz I didn't cook the pasta. So, we'll put this on nice and loose. We're going

to throw this in a 350°ree oven for about 30 minutes, remove the foil, and then go for another 30 minutes to crisp up the edges. And then we'll be ready to taste. The lasagna's been in the oven for 30 minutes. We're going to remove

taste. The lasagna's been in the oven for 30 minutes. We're going to remove the foil to allow our lasagna to crisp up and the cheese to melt really nice.

You'll notice that a lot of the juice has leaked out onto the tray. That's

kind of sacrificial juice. It's probably going to stick to the tray, but that's why it's important to have it so it doesn't leak all over your oven. The

foil on top has allowed my pasta to soak up that liquid and my cheese to steam a little and get melty. It's going back into the oven for about 30 minutes. And

that's going to get nice and crispy and brown. I took the foil off the lasagna, put it back in the oven for another 30 minutes, and now it's out. Look at it.

It's gorgeous brown cheesy deliciousness. But I don't want you to cut into it right away. It's extremely important to note that you need to let this rest for a minimum of 30 minutes before you cut it. Otherwise, it's a

sloppy mess. What's great about lasagna is that you can take it in this form.

sloppy mess. What's great about lasagna is that you can take it in this form.

You can refrigerate it. You can cut it up and freeze it. You can pretty much save it and serve it any way you want it, but you have to let it rest before you cut it.

My lasagna has rested for 30 minutes. We've given it time for everything to kind of meld together. Let's cut into this. All right, here we go. Make sure

it's sliced all the way through. I usually run the knife along the outside edge just to make sure that it's free. Get under there. Oh my goodness. That is just a slice of

happiness. We took our time to layer our sauce on top and on bottom of the pasta.

happiness. We took our time to layer our sauce on top and on bottom of the pasta.

And if you look at it, all that time has paid off. We have a beautiful layered lasagna with a little bit of everything in each bite. I'm gonna make a mess, but I'm gonna get in there and just take a nice chunk. It's cheesy. It's meaty. It's melty and

creamy. It has a little acidity from those tomatoes. The pasta still has a

creamy. It has a little acidity from those tomatoes. The pasta still has a little bite. It's not soft and mushy. It holds together really well, and it's

little bite. It's not soft and mushy. It holds together really well, and it's beautiful. It takes time. It takes technique, but it is worth every moment

beautiful. It takes time. It takes technique, but it is worth every moment you put into it. Put it in front of the people you love, and they will love you back. I'm Frank Proto, professional chef and culinary instructor. And today I'm

back. I'm Frank Proto, professional chef and culinary instructor. And today I'm going to show you the best way to make spaghetti and meatballs Frank style. We're talking tender and flavorful meatballs, a deep rich tomato sauce, perfectly cooked pasta that will

put a smile on anyone's face. This is spaghetti meatballs 101. I prefer my meatballs fairly small, like golf ball size. The outside is browned off first.

The inside is super juicy and tender. This is a close approximation of my grandmother's recipe. I think it makes a nice consistent delicious meatball.

grandmother's recipe. I think it makes a nice consistent delicious meatball.

If you go to Italy and ask for spaghetti meatballs, they look at you like you have three heads. It's not really served together. This is actually a classic Italian American dish. I have some ground beef. I have my ground pork. I

know that my grandmother would put ground ve in this. I'm just trying to simplify a little. Make sure your ground beef is at least 80/20. That means 80% meat, 20% fat. If they're too lean, they tend to be a little on the dry side. I'm

hitting this with some fresh garlic. I have pecarina romano cheese. Pecarino is

sharp. It has a lot of flavor to it in a small amount of cheese. You can use parmesan if you want. I'm using plain breadcrumbs, not seasoned. I want to control the seasoning. For this recipe, it's about a cup and a half. The

breadcrumbs make your meatballs more tender. Sometimes people will add milk to this, right? And that's kind of a classic Italian American thing as well.

I don't think that it needs the milk. I like to use just eggs. And I used a fair amount of eggs. I have four here for this amount of meat. Back when my grandmother was a kid, meat was a little harder to come by. Meatballs were a way of them taking that little bit of meat and extending that. You add breadcrumbs

that are cheaper. You add cheese. You add eggs that are cheaper than the meat.

And you're making this this really nice thing that instead of just feeding one or two people, you can feed five or six. Don't forget the seasoning. Lots of

fresh cracked black pepper. And then a fair amount of salt. The breadcrumbs,

the eggs, and the cheese here make your meatballs more tender. They actually

grab on to a lot of those juices. If you just use a little bit of breadcrumbs and not a lot of eggs or cheese, you're going to get a really meaty meatball that actually tends to be a lot drier, a lot more crumbly. Uh, and what I like to

do is just break up my yolks and start to mix some of the dry ingredients together on top. And then I bring my meat in and I'm going to start to work this. A lot of people say, "Oh, don't work the meat. It's going to be tough."

this. A lot of people say, "Oh, don't work the meat. It's going to be tough."

No, no, no, no. We want to work this so it's really mixed well. People tend to think you can overwork meatballs. We're not going to harm this from working it.

This feels like it's a little wet to me. So, what do I do? I get my breadcrumbs and I just add a little more. If you look at the side of the bowl, it's kind of wet. I want side of the bowl for the meat to pull away from it and not to be

of wet. I want side of the bowl for the meat to pull away from it and not to be sticky. If I pick a piece up now, it's super sticky. So, I want this to firm up

sticky. If I pick a piece up now, it's super sticky. So, I want this to firm up a little more. So, let's mix those other breadcrumbs in. It's starting to look a little drier. It's forming one big nice mass almost like kneading it like a

little drier. It's forming one big nice mass almost like kneading it like a bread. This is the texture I'm looking for. It's slightly sticky, but when I

bread. This is the texture I'm looking for. It's slightly sticky, but when I roll my meatball, it holds its form. That is a nice mixture. So, I'm going to cook a little taster before I actually ball up my meatballs. And this is just

to ensure that I have the seasoning and the texture right. This is one of those steps that a lot of home cooks will skip that I find is super important. Just put

a little olive oil in your pot. We're going to get a little piece of meat, flatten it out. It goes right in the pan. This is what makes restaurant chefs different from home cooks is we're constantly tasting. We're seasoning.

We're adjusting. And that's what you do here with meatballs. All right, let's taste this to make sure the seasoning is good. But I think I need a little more salt.

Don't go too crazy. A little more pepper. Don't be afraid to take the 2 minutes and make a tester. Okay. Get in there, remix, and we'll be good to go.

One of the other things I do as a chef that makes my meatballs super consistent and the right size is I use an ice cream scoop. This ice cream scoop is definitely smaller than your average ice cream scoop. This is actually called a disher. It's a portion scoop that they use in restaurants. This is a good trick

disher. It's a portion scoop that they use in restaurants. This is a good trick to make sure that your meatballs are uniform. I just line up my meatballs like soldiers here. I take the scoop, I get the meat in there, I push it against

the side, and then scrape it. Basically packing it into the scoop. and all my meatballs are uniform. I think meatballs uh that are really huge are a little offensive. I like a two bite meatball. If you want them bigger, go for it. If

offensive. I like a two bite meatball. If you want them bigger, go for it. If

you don't want to use a scoop and don't have a scoop, usually what I'll do is this. So, I'll take a meatball and I'll kind of just put it into the cup of my

this. So, I'll take a meatball and I'll kind of just put it into the cup of my hand and then you pretty much use your hand as the guide. The meatballs are kind of rough, so just take a few seconds, roll them between your hands.

So, this is just for looks. You can easily just drop them into your sauté pan. A little bit better for presentation. Meatballs are rolled out. Let's brown them.

pan. A little bit better for presentation. Meatballs are rolled out. Let's brown them.

Browning your meatballs is a key step. We're sealing the outside of the meatballs, sealing that moisture and juiciness in. We're also getting some browning in the bottom of the pan and some fat from the meatballs. So, I feel it's really important just to give you a full flavored sauce as well as a really

nicely cooked meatball. Some people will take the meatballs raw and just throw it into tomato sauce. I think that they fall apart and you'll have more of a meat sauce than a meatball sauce. This is the way my grandmother did it and I think it makes a better flavored sauce. So, I have some olive oil. We're not

frying the meatballs, but I want some fat in the pan. It's starting to get a little bit glisteny. We're starting to see ripples and a little bit of smoke.

So, I'm on a mediumigh heat. And all I really have to do is start putting our meatballs in. And I'm only going to put them in on one layer. This point is

meatballs in. And I'm only going to put them in on one layer. This point is really just concerned with browning, getting a nice crust on the outside of these meatballs.

creating layers of flavor. I'm using a pot that's actually called a brazer.

It's a shallow sauce pot that's wide. I love this pot. We can put a lot of meatballs in. It's heavy cast iron with enamel on it. It holds the heat. And I'm

meatballs in. It's heavy cast iron with enamel on it. It holds the heat. And I'm

not too worried about cooking all the way through right now. If things are a little raw here, it's not a big deal because these are going back in the sauce and they're going to cook for a good 30 to 40 minutes in the sauce. It's

actually better if they're a little raw in the middle. If you cook them too long in the fat, you're actually going to dry them out and get a crust on the outside that gets way too firm. So, don't go too crazy with browning them. Just roll them around and they stay nice and juicy and tender. Notice how I'm using tongs. I'm

not squeezing them too hard. I'm just kind of delicately moving them around. I

don't want them to fall apart. And I'm still over mediumigh heat. If these are getting brown too quickly, adjust your heat. Lower it down. I'm saving the pan. I'm saving all the fat in the pan. Don't be afraid of this fat. It's actually going to make our sauce taste better.

We saved our pot from browning the meatballs. We have that beautiful brown bits on the bottom, that fond. Our oil is still in the pan. And what I'm going to start with is the onions. Right, onions take a little time to cook.

Onions lend a little sweetness to my sauce. We're going to cook our sauce for more than 30 minutes. That lends sweetness as well. My oil is all warmed up. I have it on about medium heat. And then I can add my onions. These are just

up. I have it on about medium heat. And then I can add my onions. These are just chopped onions. fairly small. For the most part, these are going to fall apart

chopped onions. fairly small. For the most part, these are going to fall apart and melt into our sauce. Just a little bit of salt. It draws out the moisture.

It starts the seasoning process. So, while my onions are cooking, I have basil. And I'm going to pick the leaves off for later. I want to use the leaves

basil. And I'm going to pick the leaves off for later. I want to use the leaves to kind of like give my sauce a little bit of op. But I'm going to save the stems. They have tons of flavor. I get my bay leaf. And I'm basically going to

just bundle these together. I get a little butcher's twine and I'm going to make myself a bouquet garnier, which is basically just a bouquet of spices or herbs. Tie these together. And this is just one of those techniques that I

herbs. Tie these together. And this is just one of those techniques that I think that as a chef I've done throughout the years and it makes my sauce so much better. As our onions go translucent and start to get soft, we can add our garlic. Once my garlic starts to smell a little toasty, I can

add my tomatoes. This was my grandmother's brand that she used. It's

kitchen ready. I do not like skins in my tomato sauce. I make sure that my tomatoes are always peeled. So, this goes right into your pot.

Get as much out as possible. Give it a quick stir. Again, what I do at this point is I'm going to add some water. And I used to think this is just my grandmother being frugal, but believe it or not, this has a purpose. By adding water to our sauce,

we're actually slowing down the cooking process. If we don't add water, the tomatoes reduce too quick and they're going to be acidic and not sweet. If I

didn't add the water, my sauce will be too thick too quick. I want to give it time for those flavors to develop and my sauce to reduce and really kind of meld with all the other flavors in the pot. So, at this point, you can see it's

starting to bubble. I'm going to add my sache, get those herbs in there. If you

look on the side of the pot, sauce always sticks to the side of the pot. I

am constantly getting my spoon in there and scraping that down. A lot of people will just leave it there. It'll start to burn. I like to scrape the side of my pot. That's basically just reduced tomato, adding more flavor to your

pot. That's basically just reduced tomato, adding more flavor to your sauce. I'm going to season up right now. Salt and black pepper. I'm going to go

sauce. I'm going to season up right now. Salt and black pepper. I'm going to go fairly light on the seasoning because I want to season throughout. So, you can see that we're starting to get bubbles at top. We do not want this sauce to

boil. Boiling leads to reduction. We're going to reduce it too quickly. I want

boil. Boiling leads to reduction. We're going to reduce it too quickly. I want

this to happily bubble away. So, we want this to go on low heat at this point and we can add our meatballs. So, our sauce is bubbling away happily.

I bring it to a simmer. I lower it down. And then it's time to add the meatballs.

And basically what I do is I just get my meatballs and I slide them in. If

there's any juices on this pan, if you see any juices, make sure you scrape that in. That's flavor. It's on medium low heat. I make sure that they're all

that in. That's flavor. It's on medium low heat. I make sure that they're all submerged. And I just let this bubble away happily, stirring occasionally,

submerged. And I just let this bubble away happily, stirring occasionally, scraping my sides for about half hour to 45 minutes. So, we've got some reduction. I can see that it's not as liquidy as it was. I'm going to take my

reduction. I can see that it's not as liquidy as it was. I'm going to take my sache out. This is not edible. Just get rid of that. But I do want to taste it before I serve it.

sache out. This is not edible. Just get rid of that. But I do want to taste it before I serve it.

Good. It does need salt. It does need pepper. Right. This is a good time to add our basil. This is going to add a little pop, a little freshness to our sauce. So, I just like to tear it. It's looking good. I think we're ready to go.

sauce. So, I just like to tear it. It's looking good. I think we're ready to go.

All we need is a little bit of pasta. We can plate it up and give it a taste.

I'm going to plate this kind of granny style, the way my grandmother would have done it. I'm going to take some of my sauce, put in the bottom of a big bowl.

done it. I'm going to take some of my sauce, put in the bottom of a big bowl.

It's kind of family style. Grab my cooked spaghetti right into the bowl.

So, my pasta is just a really good quality box pasta. We cooked it to al dente and then we're just going to toss it in the sauce. You don't have to go to fresh pasta with spaghetti and meatballs. Use your favorite box pasta

and you're good to go. Now, I want you to look at what I got going on here. All

the pasta is coated, but it is not drowning in sauce. This is classic pasta 101. We don't want it to be swimming in the sauce. It's easy to add more sauce.

101. We don't want it to be swimming in the sauce. It's easy to add more sauce.

It's near impossible to take any sauce away. And then I'm going to add my grated pecorino. Don't be stingy. Use good cheese. This is fresh grated

grated pecorino. Don't be stingy. Use good cheese. This is fresh grated pecorino Romano. Don't buy the stuff in the can or the shaker. And then I'm just

pecorino Romano. Don't buy the stuff in the can or the shaker. And then I'm just going to take some basil leaves just to accent that basil. If they're really big, give them a tear. So, I'm going to plate some meatballs here just for

presentation sake. And that is basically my grandma style spaghetti and

presentation sake. And that is basically my grandma style spaghetti and meatballs. Typically, if I was having a Sunday dinner at my grandmother's house,

meatballs. Typically, if I was having a Sunday dinner at my grandmother's house, this is how the setup would be. We'd have the nice plated pasta with the sauce and some meatballs and some garnish. And then we'd have a bowl of

sauce, a bowl of meatballs and cheese so that people can dress their plates the way they want it. Time to plate this baby up and give it a taste. I grab some pasta. Get on my plate. I'm going to get a meatball cuz I want to taste. So, I'm

pasta. Get on my plate. I'm going to get a meatball cuz I want to taste. So, I'm

going to taste the pasta by itself first. Give me a little bite. Just see how my sauce is.

What I love about this sauce is that it's cooked but not cooked too long. So,

it's not too dense or deep. It still has that nice bright tomatoy flavor. Of

course, the pecarino cheese every single time does it for me. My meatballs are super tender.

You cut them with the side of your fork. They're not falling apart. They're

cooked all the way through. They have great flavor. We made sure they had great flavor cuz we did our little test. Meatballs are perfect.

You could serve this plate of pasta to any Italian American grandma. You might

get a kiss. You might get a kiss on both cheeks. Taking the time, putting the effort in, and making this sauce at home is well worth it. You choose the ingredients, you choose the seasonings, you can make it custom to what your

family likes. Uh, and you just can't do that with store-bought food. I'm Frank

family likes. Uh, and you just can't do that with store-bought food. I'm Frank

Proto, professional chef and coloring instructor, and today I'm going to show you how to make the best fetucci alfredo at home. We're talking silky, creamy, classic fetucci alfredo. This is fetucci alfredo 101. Fetachine Alfredo is a classic dish that

you normally don't see in restaurants in Italy. It's basically pasta with butter and parmesan. Pasta eluro or pasta called parmesano ebutoo. The American

and parmesan. Pasta eluro or pasta called parmesano ebutoo. The American

version of fetuccini alfredo uses cream. This is more the original version that came from Italy to America. Real fetucci alfredo only has three ingredients.

Butter, parmesan cheese, and pasta. It's all about the technique. And once you get that down, you're going to make it perfectly every time at home.

One thing I talk about all the time is misen plas. This dish comes together really quickly, so you have to have everything close by. One of the main ingredients in our fetuccini alfredo is parmesan reiano cheese. It is really, really important that you use real parmesan reo from Italy. You can tell

that it's real because it's going to be stamped parmesan reaniano in the outside. You're going to see that rind. The parmesano reaniano and the butter

outside. You're going to see that rind. The parmesano reaniano and the butter when you mix it together emulsifies the sauce and makes it creamy. One of the key factors of this dish is getting good ingredients. Because there are so few ingredients, getting the best you can afford is really, really important. So,

I'm going to start grating my cheese. It's really important that your Parmesan cheese be finely grated. I'm using a microplane. If you don't have a microplane, you can grate it on a grater and then sift it or strain it just to get the big chunks out. But, I want this cheese to be nice and fine so that it

melts once it gets hot. So, you can see that this microplane does that really well. Part of the reason I don't use pre-grated cheese is that I can't tell

well. Part of the reason I don't use pre-grated cheese is that I can't tell if it's real, right? Someone could be selling me parmesan cheese and I don't see the rind, so I don't really trust it. Second of all, it's usually not ground fine enough. And a lot of times when you buy pre-graded cheese, there

are things in the cheese that will stop it from clumping. Like they'll use anti-caking ingredients and that does not do well for us when it comes to making the finished dish. Sometimes also in pre-grated cheese, it's very moist.

And this cheese is usually super dry and that makes our product a little string in the end. So grate your own cheese. It's worth it. So it does look like a lot of cheese and I'm basically going to use like 3/4 of a pound or a pound of cheese to a pound of pasta. It's indulgent. This is a luxurious dish. It

is cheesy. It is rich. Don't skimp on the cheese here. The cheese is grated.

And what's funny about this dish is this is really the only action or the only misen plas you have to do. I have a pot of boiling water and usually chefs tell people to use a large pot of boiling water. In this case I

want a smaller pot. I want less water. When pasta cooks it gives off starch. I

want this water to be extra starchy. So when we add it to our pasta that starch will help bring the sauce together. Generally for pasta dishes I would use a larger pot with a lot more salt. But because we're using parmesan, it's super salty and I don't want this dish to be overs salted. So, I'm just going to use

a little bit of salt in my water. I'm not going to go crazy. I just want some seasoning to get in the pasta. I chose to use dry pasta in the box. Now, a lot of people say, "Well, Italy, they all eat fresh pasta all the time." But

that's not really true. A lot of people use dry pasta in Italy. You could use fresh if you want. It's up to you, but I like to use dry. It has a little more starch to it, and I like the way it comes out a little bit better. You want

to try and find the best pasta that you can afford because it's going to make the dish better. Because this dish has so few ingredients, every ingredient matters. A lot of times chefs will say they want their pasta al dente. Al dente

matters. A lot of times chefs will say they want their pasta al dente. Al dente

means to the tooth, which means there's a little bit of bite. You bite into your pasta, there's no white center, but it has some chew to it. I'm going just past al dente here. So, you can see as I stir the pasta, the water gets cloudy, and

that's what I want. That cloudiness is the starch washing off of the pasta. I'm

using a butter with high butter fat. It's a little creamier. There's less

liquid or solids in this. I've used this plug or KY Gold unsalted butter. So, I

would try and find a European butter. This will really help the emulsification and help the dish come together. This pasta comes together really quick. Have

your plates ready to go. Have all of your other misen plots ready to go and serve the pasta to your guest immediately. The best way to check if your pasta is done is to actually taste the piece. People say, "Oh, throw it against the wall." No, it just says our pasta is starchy. It's good. I think it

needs another half a minute and we're good to go. Once this pasta is cooked, we need to go quickly. It is not something you can kind of wait around and chat. You want to have everything ready to go. Basically, I'm using the

and chat. You want to have everything ready to go. Basically, I'm using the pound pound rule. I got a pound of pasta, a pound of butter, and a pound of cheese. And it seems like a lot, but again, this dish is super luxurious and

cheese. And it seems like a lot, but again, this dish is super luxurious and meant to be eaten in smaller quantities. So, we're not going to skimp on anything. We got lots of cheese, we got lots of butter, and we got beautiful

anything. We got lots of cheese, we got lots of butter, and we got beautiful starchy pasta. Deep cleansing breath. Let's start. The pasta is ready to go.

starchy pasta. Deep cleansing breath. Let's start. The pasta is ready to go.

So, I'm going to shut my water off. Notice I don't have a colander or a spider or anything strainer. What I'm going to do is take my pasta directly out of the water. Let it drain for like a second and then drop it right into my

butter. Some of that pasta water is clinging to my pasta, and that's what I

butter. Some of that pasta water is clinging to my pasta, and that's what I want. I'm not going to throw this pasta water away yet because I might need some

want. I'm not going to throw this pasta water away yet because I might need some to adjust the final dish. And this is where we start to mix, right? I'm going

to start to melt my butter. And this is where the key of the technique is. We're

going to continuously keeping it moving. We want the butter to emulsify with that pasta water and the pasta. And I'm going to start adding cheese. You don't want to be shy with this cheese. Go a little crazy. I have a little extra cheese in case I need it. But we're going to mix, mix, mix. And because that I used the

microplane on this, you'll see that my cheese kind of melts right away. We got

to keep it moving. Keep it moving. Keep it moving. And that's what's the most important thing is here. I'm going to add a little more cheese. You could

measure this out perfectly, but I'm going to do it by eye because I want this to look a certain way. I want it to look creamy and delicious. The main

component here is the technique. Stir, stir, stir. We want to continue to stir until the sauce starts to look creamy. So, you can see that my sauce is kind of tight. I can add pasta water. But look, once I add that water, you'll see that

tight. I can add pasta water. But look, once I add that water, you'll see that it starts to look creamier and creamier. I use a glass bowl for this because a metal bowl will disperse the heat whereas a glass bowl holds that heat

together. Nice creamy sauce. It starts to look like we added heavy cream to

together. Nice creamy sauce. It starts to look like we added heavy cream to this and we didn't add any heavy cream. It's all about the technique. That pasta

and that cheese is emulsified and that's what we want. It's all about the stirring and getting our pasta super creamy. You might be tempted to do this in a pan over a heat source. And the reason I chose a bowl is because if you

overheat this sauce, it breaks. So, you're going to have an oily mess where the cheese is in clumps and the butter breaks and gets greasy. When the butter breaks, that means that the fat and the solids separate. So, you're going to get greasy, fatty stuff and chunks of butter solids and cheese. One of the most

important things with fetuccini alfredo is to get it on a plate and get in your mouth as fast as possible. Let's plate this up. So, we can go on the plate. You

can see this super creamy. Now, if you have guests, you don't really have to put this on a platter. You can go directly onto their plates. But this is the presentation here. Look at how creamy that sauce is. And you can see

why when this dish came over to America, people thought there was cream in it.

Because it does actually look like there might be some cream in here. But it is just butter, pasta water, and parmesan cheese. Look at that. If that doesn't make you smile, you got no joy in your life, people. So, I do have a little bowl of cheese here

on the side in case you or your guests want to add more cheese. But I would suggest tasting it first the way it is. And if you need more cheese, add more cheese. To be honest with you, there is so much cheese in this dish already.

cheese. To be honest with you, there is so much cheese in this dish already.

They probably won't need it. But it's always good to give your guests the option. Let me go onto my plate. That is gorgeous. I'm going to bring it close so

option. Let me go onto my plate. That is gorgeous. I'm going to bring it close so I don't slop it all over myself. I'm not a spoon guy here. I just twist it around my fork. Right.

It's creamy. It's buttery. It's got some really nice bite from the Parmesan cheese. You don't need a big bowl of this. Give small portions. Absolutely

cheese. You don't need a big bowl of this. Give small portions. Absolutely

delicious. Like, who could you serve this to that would hate this? Remember,

this is a super super simple dish. It's all about the technique. You get that technique right and it's going to be beautiful. So, you might have to practice, but it's well worth it. I'm Frank Proto, professional chef and culinary instructor, and today we're going to make foolproof carbonara. I'm

gonna teach you how to make carbonara that's luscious, creamy, and full of flavor. This is carbonara 101. Carbonara is one of those dishes that

flavor. This is carbonara 101. Carbonara is one of those dishes that can seem super complicated, but in the end, it's really easy, and all you really need is a few techniques. If you follow all of my techniques, it'll be

foolproof every single time. One of the most important ingredients in carbonar is black peppercorns. Now, I like to grind my own, but before I grind them, I like to toast them. and toasting is going to give us this really nice

nutty deep black pepper flavor. So, put it over kind of medium low heat. And

we're just going to put the peppercorns in until I start to smell that they're fragrant. It's just a subtle nuance that makes this dish so much better. Make

fragrant. It's just a subtle nuance that makes this dish so much better. Make

sure we're moving our peppercorns around so that they toast evenly. So, what I'm looking for here is that I can smell my peppercorns getting fragrant. They start

to kind of like move around in the pan a little. You'll see they'll jump a little, right? We might hear a little pop. And once I hear that first popping,

little, right? We might hear a little pop. And once I hear that first popping, I take it off. I don't really want to go any further than that cuz then we're going to get it overcooked. I'm going to let these cool on this tray. And in the

meantime, I'm going to start prepping my other ingredients. One of the keys to a foolproof carbonara is to gather all of your ingredients. You need everything within arms reach.

So, when I cook my pasta, I'm not waiting for anything. I can make it right away. Now that my peppercorns have cooled, I can crush them. Now, you could

right away. Now that my peppercorns have cooled, I can crush them. Now, you could use a pepper grinder if you want, but I'm going to use the old classic

technique. I get the pan. I hold it down with my hand here. Body weight down. So,

technique. I get the pan. I hold it down with my hand here. Body weight down. So,

I'm pushing and rolling almost like you're doing a lever, right? I'm pushing down on this side and crushing my peppercorns and rolling. So, I can smell as I crush that these are

super fragrant, super nutty. That toasting brings out those flavors. We

get the oils out. And I don't want this to be super fine. I want it to have some texture to it. We're talking about how to take this dish from just kind of a standard dish to just that much better. And as a chef, grating your own cheese

is super important. For my carbonara, I choose to use two cheeses. I'm using

Parmesan cheese and I'm using Pecorino. And I do buy the good stuff for this. I

go to the Italian cheeses. If you can get it, go for the best cheese you can find. I like to use a microplane for this. Now, a microplane is a very fine

find. I like to use a microplane for this. Now, a microplane is a very fine grater. When this cheese melts, I want it to be nice and fine. I don't want to

grater. When this cheese melts, I want it to be nice and fine. I don't want to get shreds in there. I want to get this beautiful fine cheese that's going to make my sauce super silky in the end. What I like about using two cheeses here is the Parmesan gives me a nice nuttiness and it gives me a really great

kind of earthy flavor, whereas the pecarino is super sharp and it's got a lot of bite to it. So, look, I have a lot of cheese here, and that's a good thing. That's what I want. So, this is for about four servings. Now that my

thing. That's what I want. So, this is for about four servings. Now that my cheese is grated, I can get to my eggs. For carbonara, I like my eggs to be room temperature. So, what I'll do is I'll set them on the counter for about a half

temperature. So, what I'll do is I'll set them on the counter for about a half hour before I make the dish. Cuz if they're cold, that's going to slow everything down. I'm going to put hot pasta and cold eggs, and the dish isn't

everything down. I'm going to put hot pasta and cold eggs, and the dish isn't going to come together and emulsify, right? So, eggs are the binder for this dish. This is what brings the whole thing together. And I'm going to use

dish. This is what brings the whole thing together. And I'm going to use three whole eggs and two egg yolks. And what I like to do is crack my egg in half and just run my yolk between the shells until the white all runs out all

the way. A lot of times people will just use straight eggs for this and that's

the way. A lot of times people will just use straight eggs for this and that's okay. But the yolk is a lot of fat and the white is a lot of liquid. So by

okay. But the yolk is a lot of fat and the white is a lot of liquid. So by

adding the extra yolk, I'm adding more fat to the dish, more richness to the dish. The next thing I'm going to do is I'm going to mix my eggs and cheese

dish. The next thing I'm going to do is I'm going to mix my eggs and cheese together. And this is a really important step because I want this to be a smooth

together. And this is a really important step because I want this to be a smooth and creamy sauce around my pasta. We want to get this into a nice homogeneous mixture so that when we actually add the pasta to it, we don't get scrambled

eggs. Not a good look for carbonara. All right, so let's just take the cheese,

eggs. Not a good look for carbonara. All right, so let's just take the cheese, dump it into the eggs, and we can just get this together. And you'll see it's going to get kind of like a a thick creamy mixture. Get that all in there. I use a whisk

just to get this together, but I'm not going to use a whisk past this point.

But you can see the mixture looks nice and creamy. It's come together. There's

no bits of eggs or bits of cheese that aren't mixed in. And that's what I want.

This is super important getting your carbonara to the right finished texture.

At this point, I want to add a little bit of my toasted black pepperc corns.

Right. Give it a shake. Get a little bit of your finely ground stuff. Get a

little bit of your bigger chunks. So, my egg and cheese mixture is ready to go. And now it's time for the star of the show, the guanchal. And this is

to go. And now it's time for the star of the show, the guanchal. And this is super traditional for carbonara. Now, if you don't have guanchali, if you can't find it where you're at, you can use panchetta. I've seen bacon be used.

Traditionally, guanchchali is used for carbonara. And that's the jowl or the cheek of the pig that's been cured, salt cured. Sometimes they rub it in spices and sometimes in pepperc corn, but it's just cured. It's salty. It's fatty. It's

delicious and that's why they use it. It has that fattiness. When we cook it out, we get a lot of fat that helps make our sauce smooth and creamy. So, when it comes to guanchale, I like nice big chunks of it. So, I like to cut my own.

I don't like to buy it pre-cut. So, I want to get nice matchixs or big mardones or chunks. Don't be shy. I want them to be super visible in my dish. So,

you see I have like kind of like this this matchick or a very thick matchick.

So, we're going to cut those into nice chunks. I don't want any wimpy little chunks. I want to see this guanchchali. It's a beautiful ingredient. It's got

chunks. I want to see this guanchchali. It's a beautiful ingredient. It's got

some meat on it, but it's not super meaty. Now that I have my guanchal cut, my eggs, cheese, and pepper mixture, we are ready to make our carbonara.

You'll notice in front of me I have all the ingredients I need within arms reach. This is one of those things as a chef that you have to set yourself up

reach. This is one of those things as a chef that you have to set yourself up for. It's proper mis and plas. My water is boiling. I'm going to add some salt

for. It's proper mis and plas. My water is boiling. I'm going to add some salt to my water. I want my water to be basically sea salty. And I'm using uh dry pasta. It holds the sauce really well. I like to use spaghetti for this.

dry pasta. It holds the sauce really well. I like to use spaghetti for this.

I like the shape. I like the way it holds on to the sauce. I like the bite to it. Pasta is going to take about 10 minutes. And in that time, I'm going to

to it. Pasta is going to take about 10 minutes. And in that time, I'm going to get my guanchali ready to go. So, turn your heat on. I like to use a little olive oil in my pan before I start cooking my guanchal. People will say, "But Chef Frank, the guanchali has a lot of fat." I like to put this in the pan

to get the the process going quicker. My guanchal is going to brown a little more evenly. I don't really have to wait for that fat to render out. So, a little bit

evenly. I don't really have to wait for that fat to render out. So, a little bit of fat in my pan to start is the way that I always go. We're going to cook this until it is light golden brown. You can hear it start to sizzle. I don't

want this to be crisp. I want it to have some chew to it in the end. So, we're

not going to brown it all the way. We want to keep all the fat. A lot of people say, "Wa, that's a lot of fat. We're going to put that in the pasta."

Yes, we're using all the fat. The fat is key to this dish. It's also going to emulsify with the egg yolks and make this sauce super creamy. Don't forget to get in there and stir your pasta occasionally. We don't want it sticking.

How do you tell if pasta is done? If you look at it right now, it's still very firm, right? We want it to be nice and al dente, which means to the tooth. We

firm, right? We want it to be nice and al dente, which means to the tooth. We

don't want it to be overcooked. We want it to have a little bite to it.

My guanchali is ready to go. You can see it's still bubbling away. It's not

completely done, but if I leave it in the pan and keep it hot, it's going to continue to cook. I don't want it to get any more crisp than this. So, I think my pasta is ready. The best way to determine if it is is to take a piece, try not to burn yourself, and actually taste it. And that's good to go. A lot

of people will mix carbonara in a pan, and I don't like doing it in a pan, right? Pans retain heat. I'm afraid my eggs might overcook and get scrambled.

right? Pans retain heat. I'm afraid my eggs might overcook and get scrambled.

So, I like to mix everything in the bowl that I mix the cheese and eggs in. So,

let's take our pasta out, right? I drain it, but I don't drain it too well. We

want to get a little bit of that pasta water in there. The pasta water has starch. It has a little bit of salt. So, this goes right into my eggs. And this

starch. It has a little bit of salt. So, this goes right into my eggs. And this

is going to start that process of cooking those eggs. And then,

guanchale and all the fat goes in. Don't be shy. And then we mix. I have a pair of tongs. And here is the key here. We want to mix, mix, mix, right? We want

of tongs. And here is the key here. We want to mix, mix, mix, right? We want

that egg and that cheese to start to cook. We want that fat to be emulsified into the sauce.

But look at that, right? Super creamy. Those eggs start to cook. It smells

cheesy. Oh my gosh. Nice big chunks of the guanchale, which this is the important part here. We're emulsifying the sauce around the pasta. All of that fat from the guanchchali is getting in there and we get this beautiful,

luscious, creamy sauce. Look at that. It's almost like magic when this sauce comes together.

Give it a little twist. I'm going to take some of my guanchal, put it on top. Right. Get some of that creamy guanchal from the bottom. I'm

going to take a little more of my toasted black peppercorns and just a little more of my pecorino and parmesan cheese. As if there wasn't enough already. And that is foolproof carbonara. Time to dig in. I'm so excited. This is

already. And that is foolproof carbonara. Time to dig in. I'm so excited. This is

one of those dishes that uh waits for no man, woman, or child. You want to make sure you eat it while it's hot and ready to go. Make sure you get a little bit of everything in there. The sauce is silky and creamy cuz I took

the time to get everything mixed really well. The guanchali has some chew to it.

We get a little bit of spiciness from that black pepperc corn. And the mixture of both cheeses, sharp and kind of earthy, I think makes this carbonara one of the best versions you'll ever have. It's not complicated. Takes a little

technique, a little bit of love, and just makes every part of you happy. Uh,

not only your tummy, but your soul as well. I'm Frank, professional chef and culinary instructor, and today I'm going to show you how to make the perfect mac and cheese. You'll learn all the techniques to make a perfectly melty

and cheese. You'll learn all the techniques to make a perfectly melty sauce. Pick just the right pasta and a crunchy topping that takes it over the

sauce. Pick just the right pasta and a crunchy topping that takes it over the top. This is mac and cheese 101. Mac and cheese should be creamy, cheesy,

top. This is mac and cheese 101. Mac and cheese should be creamy, cheesy, and comforting. And I'm going to show you a method that skips the flour, skips

and comforting. And I'm going to show you a method that skips the flour, skips the baking using one special secret ingredient. That's how we're going to take this comforting side dish and make it the star of the show.

When it comes to cheese for my mac and cheese, I like to choose three different types. Cheddar for sharpness, Gouda for flavor and creaminess, and then I'm

types. Cheddar for sharpness, Gouda for flavor and creaminess, and then I'm going to use some grated Parmesan to give it a little bit of zing. Something

sharp, something creamy, and something really flavorful. By following that basic formula, you're going to solve a lot of the problems that people usually make when they make mac and cheese. If you don't choose the right cheeses, you're going to end up with kind of a oily sauce that's broken. My parmesan

here is freshly grated. I'm going to put this aside. I don't need to do anything with it. But I do want to grate my other two cheeses. Now, first of all, with the

with it. But I do want to grate my other two cheeses. Now, first of all, with the guda, I'm going to take some of this brown skin off. It really doesn't melt well. And because it has that smokiness to it, it kind of dries out and gets

well. And because it has that smokiness to it, it kind of dries out and gets rubbery. So, what I do is I cut it into manageable pieces. And then I get my

rubbery. So, what I do is I cut it into manageable pieces. And then I get my grater, put the grater flat, and push. This way, I'm kind of using my body weight to push the cheese. I feel like it takes a little less time. It actually

takes a little less effort as far as I'm concerned. Once the cheese grater gets full, you can push it and dump it to the side. So, there's my shredded Gouda. I'm

going to take the block of cheddar, make it manageable. The grater's on its side, and we push. For mac and cheese, I feel it's super important that you buy a block of cheese and shred it yourself. Pre-shredded cheeses have anti-caking

agents and cellulose in them. I find that that lends to a gritty sauce. So,

buy the block cheese, take a minute or two, and grate your own cheese. And I

promise you, if you use my method here, it's going to be quicker and easier.

Ideally, with mac and cheese, you want a cheesy bite every time. Basically, the

pasta is the sauce delivery vehicle. The ideal pasta for mac and cheese has holes, ridges, curves, and this pasta delivers. Today, I'm using elbows. So,

when we cook our pasta, we're basically going to do it the same way we do every other pasta. We have a boiling pot of water. We're going to add a fair amount

other pasta. We have a boiling pot of water. We're going to add a fair amount of salt. Not quite sea salty, but uh salty enough. Make sure the pasta goes

of salt. Not quite sea salty, but uh salty enough. Make sure the pasta goes in when it's boiling. For the most part, this just keeps the pasta from sticking.

If you don't have this piece of equipment in your house, you should get one. It's called a spider. I'm going to give it a stir, but we don't want to

one. It's called a spider. I'm going to give it a stir, but we don't want to constantly stir the pasta because that's going to break it up. We just want to make sure the pasta is not sticking to the bottom of the pot or to the other pasta. I'm cooking this al dente because the pasta is going to absorb some of the

pasta. I'm cooking this al dente because the pasta is going to absorb some of the moisture from the sauce and it's going to make our pasta softer. So, if I go al dente, my pasta is going to have a little bit of bite to it and not be mushy. When I add the sauce, the pasta is going to be the perfect consistency.

mushy. When I add the sauce, the pasta is going to be the perfect consistency.

The pasta is ready. And how do I know that? Because I took a piece and I put it in my mouth and tasted it. That's pretty much the only way you know that the pasta is where you want it and it's the right texture. I'm putting it onto this flat tray so that it cools fairly quickly. I like to use the spider just

in case I want to save some of the pasta water. So, there's my cooked pasta.

You'll notice that I did not rinse my pasta off. The starch on the pasta is going to help the sauce stick. You're also going to rinse away a lot of the salt that you put in there in the seasoning. If you like a dried out brick where the

sauce is kind of iffy, please, by all means, put it in the oven. What I like to do is make a crunchy topping that kind of hits those notes of that crispy cheese on top without it going in the oven. Putting a mac and cheese in the

oven tends to dry it out. And this method kind of avoids all that. My

topping is straightforward. It's pretty easy. We're going to put our pan on medium heat. We're not going to go too high. I'm going to add my butter. The

medium heat. We're not going to go too high. I'm going to add my butter. The

butteriness kind of mirrors that creaminess of the cheeses. It's going to coat those breadcrumbs and let them brown. I'm going to add my garlic while the butter is melting. Fresh garlic is going to give us a little crispiness cuz they're going to get crispy with the breadcrumbs. It's also going to give you

a cleaner flavor than say a garlic powder. Once I start smelling that fragrant garlic, I'm going to add my breadrumbs. They are panko breadrumbs, which are just dried out Japanese breadrumbs. It's not super fine. They

have some chunkiness to them. So, I'm going to add some salt. Add some black pepper. A little bit of paprika. And then a little bit of cayenne. Stir this

pepper. A little bit of paprika. And then a little bit of cayenne. Stir this

all up. Giving it a little shake. We're going to get a nice color from that paprika. A little bit of heat from our cayenne. Give it a shake so it doesn't burn. I

paprika. A little bit of heat from our cayenne. Give it a shake so it doesn't burn. I

think we're good. Shut it off. Let's get it onto our tray. By putting it on a tray, it's going to basically stop or rest that cooking. And what I'm going to do is just spread these out so they cool quickly. Put them aside for when we're

ready to top our mac and cheese. Using toasted breadcrumbs is a great alternative to get that crispy top without putting your mac and cheese in the oven.

So now it's time to make my sauce. And if there's one special ingredient here that I use that is possibly out of the norm, it's this magic little powder here. This is sodium citrate. It's a type of salt that will bind the fat and

here. This is sodium citrate. It's a type of salt that will bind the fat and the proteins of the cheese together and make a super creamy sauce. So, it's an emulsifier. An emulsifier is something that takes two things that don't

emulsifier. An emulsifier is something that takes two things that don't normally stick together and it sticks them together. In our case here, it is fat and protein. This is the modern chef's secret weapon for creamy mac and cheese or cheese sauces in general. Sodium citrate is not only going to add

a little bit of seasoning because it has salt in it or sodium. The citrate part is derived from citric acid. So, it's going to add a little tang as well. If I

don't have sodium citrate, I will just add some American cheese that has sodium citrate in it. And that's going to carry some of the sodium citrate properties to your finished sauce. Let's start with medium heat. Butter in the pan. I'm

going to add my onions in. And I'm going to add a pinch of salt on those onions just to dry out some of that moisture. And I'm just going to let these cook until they are translucent, not brown. I'm starting to see a little sizzle

there. I'm going to add my garlic. And I always add garlic second just because

there. I'm going to add my garlic. And I always add garlic second just because onions take longer to cook and we don't want to burn the garlic. So onions are starting to get there. Starting to smell really good. And like I said, this adds

a nice savory background to our dish. So my onions are getting translucent. And

at this point, I'm going to take my milk. All the milk goes in. So the milk here is just the base of our sauce. I usually do more sauce than I need. This

sauce holds really well in the fridge. Plus, when I add it to the pasta, I like to have extra sauce. My milk is in there. And then I'm going to take my sodium citrate and I'm going to let that dissolve. I'm going to hit this with a

little black pepper right now. And I'm going to just bring it to a light simmer. I want my sodium citrate to dissolve. And I want my milk to get hot.

simmer. I want my sodium citrate to dissolve. And I want my milk to get hot.

If our milk isn't hot, our cheese is not going to melt. My milk is hot now. And

what I'm going to start to do is whisk some of my cheese in. So, a common mistake people will make at this point is they'll add all the cheese at once.

And what that's going to do is it's going to cool our milk down and the cheese is not going to melt. So, just sprinkle it in and whisk as you go. So,

just add slowly. I add a little bit of my palm. A little more cheddar. So, my sauce is thickened up with the cheese, but as a final step, I'm going to add a stick blender in.

I'm going to add my cream and I'm going to add the last of my butter. And this

is really going to smooth it out.

All right, it's looking pretty good there. It's smooth. It's creamy. I don't

mind if it's a little dense right now. If I think it's too thick, I can always add a little milk. But I like this density here because the denser it is, the less liquids in there and the less liquid that's going to go into my pasta

and it's going to stay as a sauce. Look, we have a nice flowy sauce, right? I

want you to listen. What do you hear? Nothing. Silence. That's what we want.

No plopping. Silence. We don't want ploppiness in our sauce. Time to assemble this. I have my nice cheesy sauce. I'm gonna lower it down. I don't want it to scorch. And now it's

cheesy sauce. I'm gonna lower it down. I don't want it to scorch. And now it's time to add the pasta. It's really simple at this point. You notice I have a lot of sauce for the amount of pasta. Like I said, I like double the amount of

sauce. I do think it makes it extra creamy and delicious. So, all I'm going

sauce. I do think it makes it extra creamy and delicious. So, all I'm going to do now is stir in my pasta and make sure I get it hot. Look at that. Some of

the sauce is going to get soaked up by the pasta as it heats. So, we could eat it just out of the pot, but I'm going to put it into a serving container just so that I can serve it with my delicious crispy topping. So, the elbows that we

used, the cheese is getting into all the cracks and crevices. And then I have my prepared breadcrumbs from earlier. We want to get some crunchiness in every bite without drying out our pasta. And done. Easy peasy. So, my mac and

cheese is ready to go. I think it looks spectacular. There's only really one more thing to do right now is to taste. So, I'm going to take a little here.

Look at it. It is not dry. Onto my plate. The sauce is super rich, really cheesy.

You can taste a little bit of the garlic and onions in the sauce as well as the garlic in the topping. It gives it just the right amount of crunch with the maximum amount of saucy creaminess. That there is the ultimate mac and

cheese. If your mac and cheese is stressing you out, you're doing it the

cheese. If your mac and cheese is stressing you out, you're doing it the wrong way. You don't have to be an expert to bring it to the next level.

wrong way. You don't have to be an expert to bring it to the next level.

Mac and cheese is comfort food. Use simple ingredients. Use good technique and it's going to come out beautiful every time. >> Hey there folks, my name is Andrew Ray aka Babish and I'm here today to show you how to make kaco pepe. The new

school high-tech unbelievably easy way. This is Kaco Pepe 101.

Kacho Pepe means cheese and pepper. It seems so simple because it only has five ingredients, but it's so difficult because you're effectively just trying to emulsify together a hard aged cheese and water. So, it's very difficult not

to break the sauce and usually ends up with a melty, stringy, oily mess. But I

have a solution, and it comes courtesy of Luciano Monoselio, a celebrated Italian chef. We're going to make a much milder sauce, a much easier sauce, a

Italian chef. We're going to make a much milder sauce, a much easier sauce, a damn near foolproof sauce thanks to a blender. This comes together very, very quickly, only using these two cooking vessels. This for cooking the pasta, a

nice wide shallow pan. The water's salted and there's not too much water in there. So, it gets nice and starchy. So, you've got more emulsifiers to try and

there. So, it gets nice and starchy. So, you've got more emulsifiers to try and get the cheese sauce to come together. And then this pan is pretty much just for toasting the peppercorns and bringing everything together. You're

hardly cooking in this pan because the pasta takes uh because the pasta takes 9 to 11 minutes.

We're going to start that boiling partially bring it out like that. So you

can sort of spread it out in a beautiful fan pattern and just keep it moving a little bit. Make sure nobody's sticking together. Instead of just dry roasting

little bit. Make sure nobody's sticking together. Instead of just dry roasting the peppercorns, I'm going to toast them in a little bit of butter. It helps

stabilize the emulsion and it's nice to have fat in there to round out some of those sharp edges. While that's going, we can grate our cheese. Pecarina Romano

and Parmesano Reiano because Pecarino Romano is much sharper, much funkier, and parmesan is going to help round it out a little bit. We're going to put this stuff in the jar of our blender. There we go. We got our butter nice and

foamy here. I'm going to add our pepperc corns to it. Got to be generous with the

foamy here. I'm going to add our pepperc corns to it. Got to be generous with the pepper. This is a pepe, it's literally in the freaking name. I got this pot on

pepper. This is a pepe, it's literally in the freaking name. I got this pot on very low cuz I don't want to brown the butter. I don't want to burn the peppercorns. I just want it to be a nice warm place for everybody to live. The

peppercorns. I just want it to be a nice warm place for everybody to live. The

most scientific method for testing pasta's dness is to take a strand and throw it into your mouth, not against the wall. That's pretty good. So now

toss it with the butter and the peppercorns. I would just eat this the way it is, but legally speaking, we have to put cheese on. So while the blender is running, I'm going to slowly stream in pasta cooking water until we get a nice thick sauce.

All right. So, we have now an incredibly creamy, dreamy sauce. So, between the pasta water, the starch, and the blender, it just created a near unbreakable emulsion. Like, you can see this. We could heat this. We could bring

unbreakable emulsion. Like, you can see this. We could heat this. We could bring this to a freaking simmer and it would not break. I guarantee it. It's about as creamy as kacho pepper gets. When you're serving pasta, it's nice to use tongs

and then give it a twist so it's got a little personality to it. Maybe a little bit more cheese grated over top. Grating a pepper. And there you have it.

Foolproof, unbreakable, unbeatable Kacio Pepe.

Kacio Pepe normally sets up almost immediately, turns into a block. This

stuff super creamy. It's super delicious. It's super pepe. You could have made kaco pepe 50 times and you still might screw it up because it's so sensitive. It's so pnicity. And

this is not only a method that results in, I think, a better kachu pepe because it's creamier. It's lighter, but also a completely foolproof and very easy

it's creamier. It's lighter, but also a completely foolproof and very easy method. After this thing sits for a little while, it is going to start to

method. After this thing sits for a little while, it is going to start to get a little globby. But a little splash of our hot pasta cooking water should

bring it roaring back to life. That's why pasta cooking water is worth its weight in not gold necessarily, but um neodymium. >> I'm Lish Styling. I'm a professional

chef and today I'm going to show you the real way to make bolognese. We are

talking silky, savory, comforting bolognese. This is bolognese 101.

The misconceptions of Bolognese are pretty much that it's just a meat and tomato sauce. The layers of flavor in this recipe are everything from browning

tomato sauce. The layers of flavor in this recipe are everything from browning the meat to adding the vegetables to making sure that you caramelize the

tomato paste to reducing the milk to adding the wine. All of it has a purpose. It takes time and patience, but really it's not complicated.

purpose. It takes time and patience, but really it's not complicated.

A Dutch oven is perfect for a sauce like this because it cooks for a really long time. The bottom is nice and heavy so that you prevent scorching. I'm going to

time. The bottom is nice and heavy so that you prevent scorching. I'm going to get her going over mediumighish heat. Add a good amount of olive oil to the bottom of this pan. So, our oil is dancing in the pan. It's moving freely,

leaving ribbons. I'm going to start with my ground beef. I'm using 80/20 here.

leaving ribbons. I'm going to start with my ground beef. I'm using 80/20 here.

And I'm going to start to brown that. As this beef is cooking, I'm breaking it up with a wooden spoon because I want all of that meat to be nice and fine so that it clings to the pasta. I'm not going to cook it fully here because I'm going to

add the vegetables and as those cook, the meat will continue to cook and start to brown. So, it's again just layering all of these flavors. You can see

to brown. So, it's again just layering all of these flavors. You can see there's even some fat rendering out from the meat. Onion finely chopped. Carrot

finely chopped as well. The carrot adds sweetness. And then a rib of celery because again it's just the magic of the trinity. The mirror. Season with some salt because we're building our flavors here. Each ingredient deserves to taste the best

that it can and that means each ingredient needs salt. So you layer along the way. I like to hand dice all of my vegetables. You can also do it in a food prep. There's no shame in that game. So now we're going to let this

cook until the meat starts to brown a little bit. This should take about 5 to 7 minutes. Bologan is not a sauce that you want to start on a Monday night at

7 minutes. Bologan is not a sauce that you want to start on a Monday night at 8:00 p.m. It takes time. It takes patience, but the building of flavor is

8:00 p.m. It takes time. It takes patience, but the building of flavor is worth it. And it all comes from the technique. My meat is starting to get a

worth it. And it all comes from the technique. My meat is starting to get a little bit of color on it, and the vegetables are starting to soften. So,

this is only going to take a couple more minutes to get just that whisper of golden brown on the meat. Vegetable soft all the way through. So, I am pretty much there. There is starting to get some browning around the edge. A little

much there. There is starting to get some browning around the edge. A little

bit of garlic goes in. About two cloves. I add it after sweating out the vegetables and browning the meat a little bit because you don't want to overcook and brown the garlic and risk it tasting bitter. I'm scraping up all

the bits that might be sticking to the bottom a little bit. Getting the spoon around the side. Couple minutes longer. While that's cooking, I'm going to crush

some tomatoes. So, I have a can of San Marzano tomatoes that I'm going to hand

some tomatoes. So, I have a can of San Marzano tomatoes that I'm going to hand crush. And honestly, it helps with finding out if there's any of those

crush. And honestly, it helps with finding out if there's any of those pesky nubbins left. Like you can see right there, that's actually the little nubbing from the tomato. You don't want to bite into that. Canned tomatoes are

picked at their peak and canned at their peak. So, you always know that you're going to have that consistent inseason tomato flavor. I'm starting to get the browning at the bottom of the pan, which is exactly what we want. So now, tomato

paste, double concentrate. About a/4 cup or so goes into a little cleared section of the pot because we want to toast it. We want to bring out all the caramelly goodness and the natural sweetness of the tomato paste. And we do that by

adding heat to it and cooking it in some of that oil that's already in the pan.

You can already see the tomato paste is nice and toasted. And the color changed.

Now I'm mixing it back into the meat. That brown goodness at the bottom of the pan, known as the fond, is starting to stick even more. So now it's time to delaze it so that we don't scorch it. So now we add the milk. Milk is a pretty

classic ingredient when it comes to making bolognese. Milk used to be there just for tenderizing the meat because the cut of meat that they would use was so tough. Now we keep it in there because it balances out the acid of the

so tough. Now we keep it in there because it balances out the acid of the tomatoes. It adds sweetness and richness to the sauce and it still tenderizes the

tomatoes. It adds sweetness and richness to the sauce and it still tenderizes the meat slightly, leaving you with a very silky mouth feel when you eat the sauce.

So, this is going to go until the milk is practically completely evaporated and reduced. You want to give it some attention as it does this. It's going to

reduced. You want to give it some attention as it does this. It's going to take about 20 minutes. You want to keep stirring the bottom so that you don't burn the bottom of the pan. It's going to start to look a little almost separated and that's okay. That's what you want actually. Everything's going to

come together in the end. It has been about 20 minutes and when I tell you that I could stop right here and eat it, I'm not lying. The milk is almost entirely evaporated, but it's changed the look of the meat. It seems silkier.

It seems more velvety. I can scrape the mixture to a side and there's not liquid left. That's your indicator that you're ready for the next step. I'm going to

left. That's your indicator that you're ready for the next step. I'm going to add about a cup of red wine to the mixture. This is going to add depth of flavor. It's going to add acid. It adds a little character and backbone. It's

flavor. It's going to add acid. It adds a little character and backbone. It's

layering those flavors. So, now we're going to let the wine reduce. It's been

about 10 or 12 minutes. We're back pretty much to the same spot that I was with the whole milk. It leaves a little clean space in the bottom of the pan.

It's still so silky. Look at that. So, now at this point, I'm going to add my hand crushed tomatoes over the back of the spoon so it doesn't splash. I'm

going to nestle in a little aromatic. Bay leaf adds almost a grassy eucalyptus note to it. So, I just use dry bay leaf. So, now the secret ingredient is the

Parmesan rind, which is completely edible. And we're going to throw it in the sauce so that all of that nutty goodness from the cheese, all of that flavor goes into the sauce. So, I'm taking about half of that rind,

nestling that in there along with the bay leaf. Tuck it away. I might see where we're at on seasoning. I'm going to add just a little bit of salt cuz it's going to reduce. So, I don't want to season too much now, but I

still want all of the ingredients to taste the best that they can. Now, I'll

let it simmer for about 2 hours. You still want to give it a stir, maybe every 15, 20 minutes or so, just to prevent it from burning at the bottom of the pan. So this sauce looks perfect right now. It is reduced. You can see

the pan. So this sauce looks perfect right now. It is reduced. You can see that it's all about the meat. The texture is beautiful and silky. This is

going to be perfect picked up with some telate or papadell, any kind of thicker flat noodle. Perfection. The marriage of the sauce and pasta together. You toss it together so that

flat noodle. Perfection. The marriage of the sauce and pasta together. You toss it together so that the sauce coats the pasta. It's not just on top. It's a whole dance that happens

in the pan that makes the magic happen. The sauce bolognese is ready to use however you want to use it. However, I want to use it. And in this case, it's going to be with pasta. Teleate. Generously season our pasta water. This

is your one opportunity to season your pasta. The pasta is going to absorb the water. So, I'm just going to drop in some fresh teleyella here. Two bunches.

water. So, I'm just going to drop in some fresh teleyella here. Two bunches.

A flat wide pasta is the best to use for this sauce because it clings to the pasta incredibly well. While the pasta cooks, I am going to warm up some pasta sauce. Our bologn.

In Italy, you would never get pasta that just has sauce pllopped on top. It's

always tossed. It needs to coat the pasta. I'm going to turn on this burner, warm the sauce up a little bit. I'm adding a little bit of pasta water just to loosen it and help warm it through. It's probably maybe about a/4 of a cup's

worth. Pasta should be close. Let's see what we got. Love pasta in. Oh my goodness. So, imagine if

worth. Pasta should be close. Let's see what we got. Love pasta in. Oh my goodness. So, imagine if you just put the sauce on top. Then you have to take the pasta, you have to take

some sauce, you have to make your bite, right? This way. Every single piece of pasta is coated in the sauce. This is the love, people. Little bit more pasta

water because we want it to coat well. Little bit of olive oil. So, you really just want to toss the pasta around. You can do this with tongs or you can do the flip. If you don't feel comfortable with the flip, don't worry about it. Tongs

flip. If you don't feel comfortable with the flip, don't worry about it. Tongs

are your best friend. You just want to make sure that the pasta is coated in the sauce. We are about there. I'm going to add some parmesano reano to finish at

the sauce. We are about there. I'm going to add some parmesano reano to finish at the end here. Once this is added in, I'm going to turn off the heat because you

don't want to continue to cook the cheese. You just want to toss it with the pasta. Oh my god. All right, we're ready to plate. Look at this. Huh? Every

the pasta. Oh my god. All right, we're ready to plate. Look at this. Huh? Every

strand is coated in the sauce. I mean, oh yeah. Just a little nest, a showering of parage.

This is my perfect bowl of pasta bolognazi. Yes. Let me tell you the flavors of this bolognazi. It's sweet. It's savory. You taste every single step. The flavors

bolognazi. It's sweet. It's savory. You taste every single step. The flavors

that you've built throughout the process. You took your time. You did it right. And it shows. This is a pasta sauce that I have made many, many times

right. And it shows. This is a pasta sauce that I have made many, many times in my career, in my life, and it never gets old. To me, this is the real way to make bologn and it really pays off.