What’s the Best Way to Serve Pasta Evenly?

Christine Gallary
Christine GallarySenior Recipe Editor at The Kitchn
After graduating from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, I worked at Cook's Illustrated and CHOW's test kitchens. I've edited and tested recipes for more than 15 years, including developing recipes for the James Beard-award winning Mister Jiu's in Chinatown cookbook. My favorite taste testers are my husband, Hayden, and daughter, Sophie.
published Jun 1, 2015
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Q: I’m a lifelong pasta fiend, and like many cooks, I keep Junk-from-the-Fridge Pasta in my regular rotation. However, I have always had trouble with the last step: tossing the pasta and sauce together to get that nice, even distribution of pasta, sauce, and other ingredients (veg, meat, etc.).

Somebody gets a plate of mostly toppings, and somebody gets a plate of lightly sauced pasta, but no one gets the middle ground. What is the best technique for tossing sauce and pasta together so all the most delicious gems don’t just hide at the bottom of the pot? Thanks!

Sent by Claudia

Editor: I wouldn’t worry about the tossing part, but would focus on the serving part! After I toss the pasta and sauce together in the pot, my technique is to lay out the right number of plates I need to serve on the kitchen counter, then divide up just the pasta between the plates first since that’s usually at the top.

When that’s all done, I scoop up the toppings, and then divide that over the plated pasta. That usually does a pretty good job of making sure every plate is about the same, plus it’s always nice to see the yummy toppings!

Readers, any tips or special techniques to divvying up your pasta, sauce, and ingredients?

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pasta