Jack asks Frederic for some fresh and easy pasta salad recipes.
Episode Guide
Below you’ll find a helpful episode guide for cooking along with Frederic and Jack, as well as tips and recipe rescues.
Equipment List:
- Large pasta pot
- Colander
- Rubber spatula
- Cutting board
- Chef’s knife
- Pairing knife
- Pepper mill
- 2 large bowls
- Measuring spoons
- Zester or vegetable peeler
- Medium saucepan
- Liquid measuring cup
- Dry measuring cups
- Wooden spoon
Tips:
Cooking pasta:
- Cook any type of pasta in boiling, salted water; the salt adds flavor to the otherwise bland pasta.
- You need about 6 quarts of water per pound of pasta.
- Stir the pasta as soon as you dump it into the boiling, salted water to keep it from sticking together.
Extra-virgin olive oil:
- Produced from the first cold-pressing of olives
- Has a low (less than 1%) acidity
- Has a more assertive olive flavor than virgin olive oil or olive oil
- No chemicals are added
- In general, the most desired and most expensive type of olive oil.
Couscous:
- Though couscous looks like a grain, it is in fact a tiny type of pasta.
- Couscous is usually made from granules of semolina, but it can be made with other grains such as barley, corn, millet, or even crushed acorns and breadcrumbs.
Recipe Rescues:
- If your couscous is clumpy – Fluff it with a fork to separate the individual granules.
- If your fusilli is overcooked – Drain pasta as soon as it is al dente, meaning that it is still slightly firm to bite into yet tender. Overcooked pasta is mushy and may fall apart in the salad.
- To make pasta salad into a more complete meal – Serve either the pasta salad or couscous salad with chicken or shrimp.
- For leftovers – Both the pasta salad and couscous salad will keep in the fridge for up to 2 days.
