pasta sticking? / oven toasting sub?

Couple of questions. How do you prevent pasta from sticking together after it is cooked and drained? Maybe toss in a little oil? Best way to toast a sub? Thinking of putting on the top rack of a hot oven? Thanks.

holdem


Couple of questions. How do you prevent pasta from sticking together after it is cooked and drained? Maybe toss in a little oil? Best way to toast a sub? Thinking of putting on the top rack of a hot oven? Thanks.

If you use enough water when cooking pasta it won't stick. As to toasting a sub, well, I can't suggest anything there. Of course, I can't understand why anyone would want to do that in the first place.

No oil in pasta water,according to most chefs!!

leethebard


No oil in pasta water,according to most chefs!!

Absolutely right!

i second that..oil in pasta cooking water..a big no no.

I'm talking about it sticking together after cooking and draining not during cooking. Thanks.

If it's sticking, it might be that it's over cooked.  If for some reason your pasta is going to sit in the colander for a while,  keep some hot water in your teapot to pour over it.

Ive onle worked in one place with oven-toasted subs.  We would take the bottom half of the bun and brush the outside with garlic butter.  The layer the meats and top with cheese.  Put in a fast oven(around 450) and let it bake until the cheese is melted.  The take the top, and again brush the outside with garlic butter.  Place the top on and return to oven until the top toasts.  It should take around five minutes.

Best way to toast a sub:

First, decide what kind of sub you want. For toasted: NO MAYO. And, probably no lettuce, either, but it is actually OK with lettuce. If I intent to toast it, I order mine no lettuce/no mayo, extra sub oil.

To toast it, wrap it in foil and put it in a 450* (or hotter) oven for 20 minutes for a 6"/7" sub. The outside of the roll turns crispy, the oil makes the inside all gooshy and flavorful.

This is the way they made them at Danny's Hoagies, in the South Park borough of Pittsburgh, when I was growing up in the '60s and '70s.

I could be wrong, but if it is sticking after boiling, I would think it is undercooked.That has been my experience.I would then run hot water over it and that solved the problem. As for toasting a sub-I just dont care for it.When I visit my favorite Italian deli-and buy my favorite ingredients, well, they are just too good and in my opinion, not to be heated up.

I never use oil in the water.  In fact, lately I've been turning off the heat and covering the pot for the required time.  This seems to work well and you never have to worry about a boil-over.  And the pasta doesn't stick together.

A sub/pizza shop I worked for many years ago had some hot subs and sanwiches on the menu, but most were served cold. The hot ones were done a bit differently then the cold ones. For the subs, we had a creamy house dressing that was first spread on the surface of the sub roll followed by the meat and last the cheese. The cheese was then sprinkled with an unsalted herb seasoning that was mixed with coarse black pepper if I recall correctly and a few other edifications. In some cases italian sausage pellets, crumbled bacon, or some other meat like pepperoni would top the cheese. The sandwich was put in the salamander until the cheese melted and developed a little brown. Once removed, the topping of shredded lettuce,tomatos,onions or whatever was added and served. Hot subs outside of meatball,cheesburger,or a wafer thin steak product which were done differently, were rarely ordered.  

One way I saw used for restaurant prep was as follows:after cooking the pasta (long noodles-spaghetti,fettuccine,etc) were tossed with olive oil and a serving portion (about the size of a tennis ball) was twirled on a roasting fork and the portions fit in rows into a single layer in an appropriate sized shallow pan and refrigerated. To serve the pasta is added to a sieve or colander and either run under hot water in a sink or dipped into a pot or boiling water, then drained and plated...add meats and sauce, garnish and serve.

I use oil for the larger pastas, because I sometimes have a problem with them sticking together while cooking,and don't have a problem. You should use a lot of water for cooking to dilute the starch. If I do have a sticking problem I do one of three things:

Rinse the starch off the pasta with water (takes some of the flavor and texture away too)
Drizzle it with extra virgin olive oil (not appropriate to all dishes)
Put it in a bowl and mix some of whatever sauce I am serving it with in it.

Traditional spaghetti is not drowned in sauce as most Americans like, but the pasta is mixed with the sauce before its plated, meats added and topped with a dollop of sauce. That way you actually tatse the pasta more...assuming you have a nice pasta you want to taste...otherwise drown it..

I boil in salty water, drain and pour the pasta into a large bowl with 2 or 3 pads of butter, tossing.  You could use olive oil too and toss.

On toasting a sub, wrap in foil, place in 400F oven 15 minutes.

Stir during cooking & sauce it IMMEDIATELY after draining. Even if you are using it later in cooking, put either the red sauce (just a bit) or the butter, oil, etc.

Using a lot of water is a good tip, too. Let it swim.