one of the main problems with the "minimal water" method of cooking pasta, especially when all one has available is a small cooking vessel, is that you tend to either have a solidly glued mass of wheat paste or you spill a lot while trying to stir it. and if, as I am, you are cooking it over a small stick stove, you might knock everything over and have a big mess.
well, I had a hypothesis, and tonight I tried it out. the idea was that adding something non-sticky to keep the pasta separate would eliminate the need to stir. and since I had a gifted jar of amaranth seeds, that's what I used. the verdict: success! the amaranth has a very mild flavor so it didn't negatively affect my meal. and the pasta came out very evenly "al dente". I only had to add a little more water; just enough to cover it wasn't quite enough, due to the amaranth also soaking it up.
I'm using up the rest of that pound of butter I salvaged yesterday. it didn't last long! I could have stretched it, but as I said, it goes rancid quickly unrefrigerated so there was no point.
last updated 2017-07-22 22:13:13. served from tektonic.jcomeau.com