Staple family

Pasta & Italian Rice

Emulsions, starch, and risotto that moves.

Most pasta sauces are built in the pan with a splash of the water the pasta boiled in. That cloudy, salty liquid is the ingredient people leave out, and it is the difference between a sauce that clings and one that slides to the bottom of the bowl. The same attention to starch shows up in risotto, where stirring coaxes creaminess out of the grain itself rather than from a carton of cream.

In this chapter

6 recipes

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A coiled nest of spaghetti in a shallow white bowl, glossy with thick red tomato sauce, scattered with torn basil leaves and fine gratings of cheese

Spaghetti al Pomodoro

Ripe plum tomatoes, garlic and a short simmer make a bright sauce that clings to spaghetti, finished with torn basil and a little starchy pasta water for a silky coat.

26 minBoilEasy

A shallow bowl of spaghetti in a glossy pale-gold egg sauce, flecked with black pepper and small crisp strips of guanciale, dusted with grated cheese

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

Guanciale renders into crisp bits, then egg yolk and pecorino are tossed off the heat into a glossy sauce that coats each strand without a drop of cream.

27 minBoilMedium

A mound of short twisted pasta coated in a coarse vivid-green basil sauce in a wide shallow bowl, with pine nuts, a basil sprig and a sheen of olive oil

Basil Pesto Pasta

Basil, pine nuts, garlic and hard cheese are pounded into a coarse green paste, then loosened with pasta water so every ribbon of pasta stays coated and fragrant.

22 minBoilEasy

A wide shallow plate of creamy risotto spreading in soft waves, studded with golden-brown mushroom slices and flecked with parsley and grated cheese

Creamy Mushroom Risotto

Arborio rice is stirred with warm stock until the grains release their starch, giving a loose, creamy texture with browned mushrooms and a sharp note of parmesan.

35 minSimmerMedium

A rectangular baking dish of baked macaroni with a blotchy golden-brown crust of melted cheese and crisp breadcrumbs, a scoop lifted out to show creamy sauce

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Elbow macaroni is folded into a roux-thickened cheddar sauce, topped with more cheese and baked until the surface turns blotchy gold and the edges bubble.

50 minBakeEasy

A wide shallow bowl of pale-gold rice pilaf with separate fluffy grains, bright green peas, flecks of lemon zest and chopped parsley

Rice Pilaf with Peas and Lemon

Long-grain rice is toasted in oil with onion, then simmered in stock so each grain stays separate, brightened at the end with peas, lemon zest and chopped parsley.

35 minSimmerEasy

Technique note · 6 min read

Boiling Noodles and Pasta Well

Salt, water volume, the two-minute window and the starchy cooking liquid that most home cooks pour down the sink.

Other staple families

Rice & Fried Rice Congee, Porridge & Oats Noodles East Dumplings & Steamed Buns Flatbreads & Griddle Bread, Toast & Pizza Potatoes & Other Staples

Cooking pasta at home

The recipes above share a small set of ingredients and one or two pieces of equipment, so it is worth cooking them in sequence rather than at random. Make the simplest one first — it tells you how your pan, your flour or your rice behaves — then move on to the versions that build on it. If you are working from what is already in the kitchen, the full recipe index can filter every chapter at once by ingredient, equipment and time.