Do I need to give you a minute to analyze the photo above? Go ahead, take a few. I did! Pasta is pretty straightforward when it comes to serving, but this trick gives pasta a new look and shape. I think. I'm still a little confused.
While searching out tasty pasta recipes this week I came across this photo above. There I sat, a little puzzled, a little confused and I wasn't really sure what to make of things. It's spaghetti — in a ring. My senses were confused and yet I didn't shy away.
How does it work? You cook your pasta as usual and then toss it in cold water. Next, toss with melted butter and place it in a ring mold or bunt pan. Next, you simply chill (to set the butter) (it can even be made a day ahead if you need to).
A sauce of your choosing is prepared and placed inside the ring and perched on top. You can cut slices and serve in a whole new fashion. What do you think about the idea? Are you in favor of, yet as confused as I am, about the whole thing? Or does this look like a god idea? Share your thoughts below!
• Read More: Pasta Ring from MyRecipes
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I like the idea, but i'm not sure how well it would serve, would I use a knife to cut into it like a cheesecake? or a pasta spoon to scoop it out. seems like it would just turn into a heap of spaghetti. I'd like to try it with elbows.
A congealed mass of starch doesn't look or sound very appetizing.
That photo looks like pictures of old Weight Watchers food--not that this would pass muster with WW! But it has that same sense of vintage horror. How recent is that?
And no, never, forget about it.
What a horrible idea! Is the sauce hot or cold? I definitely wouldn't want to eat chilled pasta with hot or cold tomato sauce. Gross. The joy of eating pasta is the sauce, they should be combined - without rinsed pasta!
This looks awful. Chewy, cold and congealed...blech.
The ring is reheated before filling, so will it fall apart when it is served? I think this might be a tester with leftover spaghetti next time it is pasta night. Really the first thing it made me think of was scary 70's recipe cards. http://www.candyboots.com/wwcards/melonmousse.html
I am so confused. Why would you do this? Nothing about this makes sense to me.
NO NO NO
Honestly, hasn't anyone ever had spaghetti pie? Granted, I never heard of it before moving to the midwest, but this is *so* similar... people eat this, really. On purpose.
Wow, I feel very alone, but I kind of like the idea! Except I would make it with eggs or something so it could still be hot when served. When I was younger, one of my first forays into cooking was a "spaghetti pizza," essentially spaghetti mixed with eggs and cheese formed into a "crust" with sauce on top. I loved it! So I might have to try this...
I've lived in the midwest my entire life, and I have NEVER heard of spaghetti pie. Nothankyou!
Yes, I'm confused, but not enough to try it. I'll give it an "I" for Interesting post though.
I think the biggest question here is "why?"
Single servings, maybe. Slicing off chunks sounds like a terrible idea.
A friend occasionally makes Martha Stewart's spaghetti pie recipe, and it's quite tasty. It does not look as freakish as the photo above. That thing above reminds me of '50's/'60's jello molds and such (as someone above said, "retro"). It's giant step backward for food photography! NOT appealing!!!
This is funny. It looks like something out of a 60's cookbook. It's much too cutesy and it doesn't look very appetizing.
No.
@keltrue, I held myself back from declaring this Midwestern abuse of food, but well, now I am calling Midwest on this thing.
And truly, why?
@keltrue - my mom made spaghetti pie once when we were kids. We still talk about it as the worst thing she ever made. She went back to the usual 10 receipes after that.
This looks just like what happens if you have leftover noodles and store them in a container in the fridge. They come out in the shape of hte container. Which is why you heat them up to eat them. Cold noodles are only for pasta salad, in which case they would have too much dressing to take the shape of anything!
We did this at our pre-school for silly days. The kids loved it. But for a real meal I have to say no. It just doesn't read as a real meal or appetizing.
Oh please!
Why not mold your spaghetti? If some people want to present their food like this, I say let them. If other people want to transfer all of their food to pretty serving dishes before they eat, go ahead! I won't be doing either of these things as I prefer to go from pot to plate, but I'm not going to get snooty about how people want to present their food, haha. If you make extra pasta, this could be an interesting way to store it.
Ack! 1950s flashbacks!
So... do you served the spaghetti chilled? 'Cause that would be gross, but I'm not sure how else it would keep its shape.
this looks so gross and tacky and the description of how to make it is so wacky it's fascinating...
Ew
Well...no I don't think this is a "god" idea, nor do I think it's a good idea. It has nothing to do with being snooty about food either, it's just plain common sense. How on earth would you go about serving that? The physical form of pasta makes this a dumb idea because it can't be served in a reasonable manner.
If you want to bake your meatloaf in a ring mold be my guest, but pasta needs to be free-form in a damn bowl.
Side Note: when I first saw the picture I immediately thought of a 1950's era Betty Crocker recipe book cover!
I adore the retro 50's shaped food aesthetic. If I weren't a vegetarian I'd probably do a lot of jello molds. Maybe I'll do pasta ones instead...
That looked horrible before I learned that it was COLD...now it just looks grotesque. It also reminded me of those horrid 1970s recipes with salmon in jello, meat in jello, salad in jello, everything in a mold and in jello.
Spaghetti pie, if it's what I always had, is baked spaghetti (pretty much a pasta casserole), not cold spaghetti. You can slice it and such, but it's cheesy and melty and wonderful. not like this. *shudder*
Omigod. That looks like something from the 1950's or 1960's.
Just, no.
I like my pasta all stringy and messy, that's when it's prettiest ;-)
Jeez... I didn't say it was GOOD... I just said it looked exactly like spaghetti pie. And that I never saw it until I moved to Wisconsin. :-)
That being said, I was born & raised in a good-NY-Italian-Irish family and we would have been strung up for making anything like this. I can't comment on exactly why people would make this. On purpose & everything...
Whoa. I found the actual recipe: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/pasta-ring-10000001117799/
I'm with ShellyIN--midwestern and have never heard of this. This is an abomination :)
why oh why isn't this baked spaghetti and cheese?
My first reaction was ewwwwwww. Enough said.
Yeah, I don't think God had anything to do with this, neither do I think it is a good idea. But, whatever you like, go for it!
This is hilarious...but terrifying.
5. Cover pasta with microwave-safe plastic wrap. Heat in a microwave oven on full power (100%) until pasta is hot, about 5 minutes. Uncover and fill with beef stroganoff.
Mmmm pasta cake wrapped in plastic wrap and hiated until piping hot...then filled with beef stroganoff...
heated*
It looks awful! And spaghetti pie is different! It's held together by egg or oil or ricotta and it's baked more like a casserole with flavor! This looks like it would be sticky and bland!
@cmcinnyc: "Vintage horror" indeed! This looks like something they'd serve at The Gobbler Motel: http://www.lileks.com/institute/motel/
(it's in the midwest too...coincidence? j/k midwesterners! us southerners have done horrible things to food too.)
Also, I just don't get the rinse and add butter bit. If you don't rinse before chilling, you can nix the butter and the pasta's own starch will hold it together. Happens all the time in my colander when people can't stop their playing and get to the darn table. Not only is this recipe and presentation pretty gross to me, it's got unnecessary fats added in. Unless you are Paula Deen.
Sandra Lee has really outdone herself here!