Cool Kitchen Tips and Techniques

Making your own Pesto

With the heat of summer in full swing and basil growing in abundance, making pesto is a great way to use this fragrant herb. Pestos are easy to make and there are many applications beyond pasta. Here are a few tips in making pesto: Double the recipe for pesto and freeze the leftovers. Freeze in tiny portions using an ice cube tray, then store the frozen "pesto cubes" in a resealable plastic bag. Use to jazz up any needy food at a minute's notice.

Blanch the basil (or other herb) first to keep the beautiful green color. (Blanching means plunging the leaves into lightly salted boiling water for just a second then scooping them out and plunging them into ice water to stop the cooking)

Use poached, toasted or roasted garlic instead of raw for a mellower flavor.

Should pasta be rinsed after cooking?

It depends! Rinsing pasta immediately after cooking creates "slippery" pasta. The sticky starch is washed away and the sauce tends to slide off. When pasta is simply drained and not rinsed, its surface is a little starchy and sticky and so sauce clings better. This is preferred for Italian pasta dishes. Interestingly, however, most Asian pastas are rinsed after cooking because the slippery texture is prized. Also Asian pastas are often added later in the preparation of a dish or are used cold, so rinsing is a way to keep them from sticking and also stop them from cooking further.