How to make a Pan Sauce for any Pasta Dish

Seafood Medley Linguine in a Cream Sauce with Peas

I regularly post pictures of the food I cook on my facebook page, especially of my pasta dishes) and my friends frequently ask me for the recipes; the problem is that I just make it up as I cook along.

I have made a lot of pan sauces for pasta over the last 6 months, but even going to culinary school has not taught me how to make a proper pan sauce while the pasta is cooking using just a few ingredients, including the starchy pasta water, until I read an article in a recent issue of Bon Appetite that was all about making the perfect pan sauce for a pasta dish: How to make Perfect Pasta. It is my personal pasta sauce bible and I have not had a failure since.

home cooks use recipes - chefs use technique*

(*that's what I was told on my first day of culinary school and I have lived by it ever since)

Here are a few of my own tips on 'The BA Pasta Manifesto (Bon Appetit)'

1. Forget the pot. Use a pan: I use a stainless fry or saute pan.

2. Build the Foundation:

Italian Sausage Pan Sauce

• These are my steps to a perfect pan sauce:
• Use olive oil
• If I use protein (chicken, bacon, beef, sausage, etc) I saute it first, remove from pan and rand keep warm; pour off any excess fat from the pan.
• Reuse saute pan with drippings to sweat vegetables.
• Sweat vegetables with a little salt until tender; add more olive oil if needed (you can use onion (red, white or shallots), mushrooms, peppers, fennel, squash, etc). There are no right or wrong combinations - just look what you have in the fridge and play with it.
• Add minced garlic just before adding a liquid - be careful not to brown the garlic, because it will become bitter.
• Add liquids and herbs. You can use heavy cream, stock, or starchy pasta water and reduce until desired consistency is reached. Do not reduce too much - keep in mind that when the pasta is added it will add more starch and adsorb quite a bit of the liquid.
• Add herbs like fresh thyme, sage, rosemary, parsley, etc. 
• Season with salt and pepper AFTER the liquid has been reduced, because the flavors with concentrate and the sauce may end up being too salty, etc.
• Add other flavorings like lemon zest, ginger, capers, etc
• Add grated parmesan - it will add flavor and thicken the sauce a bit.
• Return cooked protein or uncooked seafood and heat through. Do not boil the sauce once cheese has been added.
• Cook your pasta al-dente, drain, DO NOT RINSE - just shake off the excess water and add desired amount to pan sauce. Toss with tongs to coat evenly. Do not all the pasta ad once, because you may end up having cooked more past than you have sauce for. You can let the pasta sit in the sauce for a minute so it can absorb some of the flavor.
• Add a little butter to give your pasta that beautiful, glossy coating. Toss.
• Plate pasta in bowls, spoon some extra sauce on top, sprinkle with a little parmesan, parsley, lemon zest, etc.

3. You're not using nearly enough salt: When I think the sauce is salted enough I always add another pinch and it is perfect. Also, when cooking your pasta be sure that the water has come to a rolling boil, then add enough Kosher salt so the water tastes like the ocean. Add the pasta, stir occasionally to avoid it sticking together and slightly undercook the pasta so when it is added to the sauce it will be cooked perfectly al-dente. 

4. Don't dump the pasta water: I keep a stainless 1-cup measuring cup on the stove next to the pasta pot and save a cup of starchy water just before draining the pasta.

5. Trust the Tongs: I use stainless thongs with nylon tips so I don't scratch my pots. They are especially useful to toss and coat the pasta in the sauce and for plating and twirling Spaghetti and Linguini in a pretty birds nest on the plate.

6. Now work that pan. The pan is where it all comes together. First you make your sauce and then you add your pasta; toss; let the pasta sit in the sauce for a minute or two to absorb the sauce and to finish the cooking process. If you think the the pasta has absorbed too much and it looks a little dry just add a bit of the reserved starchy pasta water.

7. Everything's Better with butter: I always add a little pad of butter right at the end when I have already added the pasta to the sauce to give it that nice shine. It also makes the sauce creamier.

8. Cheese is not just a garnish. Cheese (parmesan) adds flavor, salt, and also helps thicken the sauce. Be sure not to boil the sauce once cheese has ben added or it can get gummy on you.

9. It should look as good as it tastes: I try to always make the past look as good on the plate as it tastes. Give your Spaghetti a little twirl so it looks like a little bird's nest; add extra sauce in the middle and don't forget a little garnish! I know a sprinkle of parley is so 90's, but I look at it from a nutritional point of view and parsley is way to beneficial to be left by the wayside.

10. Practice Makes Perfect: As with anything practice makes perfect. I make a pan sauce about 5-6 times a week (for the past 6 months) and I'm finally at the point where I think I can make a sauce out of anything :) So, keep cooking and you will get better at it

Italian Sausage, Red Peppers, and Spinach Pan Sauce.

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Roasted Red Onion and Fennel Sherry- Cream Pan Sauce