Food & Drinks

This is the trick to reheating your pasta properly in the microwave

By FavorFlav | #!31Wed, 04 Oct 2023 09:30:33 +0200+02:003331#31Wed, 04 Oct 2023 09:30:33 +0200+02:00-9Europe/Amsterdam3131Europe/Amsterdam202331 04am31am-31Wed, 04 Oct 2023 09:30:33 +0200+02:009Europe/Amsterdam3131Europe/Amsterdam2023312023Wed, 04 Oct 2023 09:30:33 +02003093010amWednesday=9#!31Wed, 04 Oct 2023 09:30:33 +0200+02:00Europe/Amsterdam10#10-04-2023#!31Wed, 04 Oct 2023 09:30:33 +0200+02:003331#/31Wed, 04 Oct 2023 09:30:33 +0200+02:00-9Europe/Amsterdam3131Europe/Amsterdam202331#!31Wed, 04 Oct 2023 09:30:33 +0200+02:00Europe/Amsterdam10#

Say wine, snacks or haute cuisine and the food lovers of online food magazine FavorFlav know where to drink, how to eat and what to cook. This time: this is the trick to properly reheat your pasta in the microwave.

Sometimes, very rarely, it happens that you have leftover pasta. For me, this is usually the case when I accidentally put an entire pack of spaghetti in the pan, ‘just to be sure’. Fortunately, you can often eat that pasta just fine the next day. The only challenge is to get it hot again. How? There is a handy trick for that.

Of course, you can easily reheat your pasta in the pan. The golden tip is to pour a little bit of water over the pasta. This way, it gets that nice texture it had before. But honestly: we don't always feel like reheating in the pan. The main reason is the extra dishes we create. Then the microwave is a much easier option. But how do you do that the right way?

THE DONUT TRICK FOR REHEATING PASTA IN THE MICROWAVE
What often happens when reheating pasta in the microwave is that the pasta gets hot on the outside of the plate, but the inside remains cold. As a result, you keep pressing those buttons on your microwave, impatiently hoping for a better attempt. The consequence is that the hot pasta gets even hotter and the cold pasta is at most a little lukewarm. How do you fix that? By placing your pasta in a sort of donut shape on your plate. In other words, push your pasta to the edges of your plate and make a hole in the middle.

WHY DOES THIS WORK?
Why does this donut shape work so well for your pasta? Microwaves use short electromagnetic waves to heat food. These waves come from the inner edges of the microwave. From here, they bounce off the side of your plate. To get the food in the middle of your plate warm, the heat has to ‘travel’ from the outside of your plate to the middle. That takes time. If you push your food to the outer edges of your plate, the heat doesn't have to make that journey.

EXTRA TIPS
Also when heating in the microwave, you can sprinkle some water over your pasta. This gives your pasta that soft texture instead of the crusty bite that otherwise occurs. Covering the plate with damp kitchen paper has almost the same effect. And one more tip: always let your plate sit for a minute before taking it out of the microwave while it's scorching hot. Yes, this way you won't burn your tongue, but you also ensure that the heat has time to penetrate your pasta well.

FAVORITE PASTA
Then I might as well take the opportunity to share my favorite pasta recipes. A bit like having to choose between your favorite children, but okay: I'm doing it anyway. An incredibly delicious summer pasta dish is this spaghetti with garlic shrimp. Extra nice: this recipe has only 5 ingredients and is therefore super easy. Even easier is the spaghetti pomodoro from the culinary hit ‘The Bear’. Anyone who has seen the series has undoubtedly been drooling at the sight of this dish. And then I choose lastly a pasta vongole. Emma de Thouars' is really the very best, believe me.