When I make pesto pasta I do the tongs thing...because the pesto does well mixed with a little of the cooking water....
Or I mix some of the cooking water with the pesto before I drain the pasta. But the tongs thing is easier.
But for topping with a Milanese or a marinara, I drain in a colander.
Linda c

Colander. Always. It's faster!

But it's the same number of dishes...isn't it?

Big Pot + Colander

or

Big Pot + Serving Bowl

Deanna

:-)

LOL Deanna! Right you are!!! Why did that not occur to me?? How silly I am....

I use a pasta pot that has a built in strainer. It's a 3-piece deal, the pot, the insert and the lid.

That recipe looks delicious, by the way!

Linda

I've always wanted a pot like Linda has.

I make hot sauces in a large skillet and I use a pasta spoon to scoop the pasta out of the pot and into the skillet to finish cooking there. It's a large, deep spoon with holes in the bottom and the sides have prongs that grab the pasta. It's much faster than tongs but they'd work too. I prefer that way in case I need some pasta water.

haha, Deanna, that was exactly my thought! I was trying to figure out how using a colander was fewer dishes than a bowl! :)

As for the question, I do a combination of things. If I use a colander, I will reserve a cup or so of the pasta water just in case. Or sometimes I use tongs, but not as often. If I'm using a short pasta, I'll use a spider to fish it out of the water. Guess I just like to create lots of dishes...

I've made recipes like that and I use a colander. I always drain the pasta into the colander and then put the colander over the cooking pot to finish draining, so I've still got the pasta water if I need it.

I always use a wire mesh strainer, since my colander don't train fully or fast. and I remove a cup of the water in case the sauce needs it.
I've seen Lydia take pasta off the fire by lifting out a strainer pot that fits inside the boiling pot.
I think using tongs or the strainer pot would make it easire for those using a large pot of water and maybe not wanting to put that strain on their arms. Tomatobob

I ladle out a little of the pasta water if I think I'll need it, then drain in a large mesh strainer set in the sink. The strainer has legs, so it's not in direct contact with the sink.) It's faster and IMO has less potential for a drippy mess. I think the main reason I do it that way, however, is because that's how my mother and grandmother did it. :)

If I'm making spaghetti (or more frequently, fettuccine or linguine), I use tongs, so that I don't have to lift a heavy pot of water, and then I still have hot water if I need it. I tend to use a strainer with a very long handle if I'm making smaller pasta, such as rotini or rotelle. My brother uses a colander to strain in the sink over the plates, and that's how one of my pasta plates got broken.

I like to ladle pasta water over the plates to heat them up, and I heat up one at a time. I have a very large pasta pot and use a lot of water, and so it's rather awkward to pour that through a colander. Ladling out is the easiest, but using tongs for long pasta is also simple, and I use that method for lasagna also. That way you can also twirl the long pasta into an interesting shape on the plate. With a pot full of hot water, I can quickly cook more pasta, in case I did not make enough.

Lars

Probably for TV they had her use the tongs. Or she can't lift the heavy pot safely any more.

Doesn't anyone use the spaghetti or pasta spoon? I used to use that quite often.

Sparky:
Use all the methods. Put a strainer in the Pasta Pot,add the Pasta into it.
I boil Pasta right in a large pot ( I can still lift it )
I use a Colander in the sink to drain the Pasta.
Then dump it back into the same Pot.

If I'm using Tomato sauce, I'll put a couple latels into the Pasta and mix it a little.

Then it goes into a Large Serving Bowl and onto the table.

We use two Oxo Spoons to portion into each plate.
There is another Bowl of Sauce , with a serving spoon,
on the table.
LOU

I use the spag spoon for serving at the table.

Gina,
In the show, she specifically said to use the tongs after mixing it with the pesto, in order to twirl it as you put it into the serving bowl. This way, it kept the heat better. I'd forgotten that part till just now.

Plus, yes, she said that she didn't want to drain all the water out, some of the water should stay, clinging to the pasta.

Lowspark:
That's what she said !!! It's what you say that counts.

Try what you like. A Colander is good, if the pot isn't too heavy to lift.

That's why there are so many Shows and Cook Books.
So you can have choices, to suit your needs and Tastes.

Or else there would be one Universal Cookbook.

Lou

I take the noodles out of the colander with my fingers and twirl it into the pasta bowl.

Am I the only one that plops a lid on top of the pasta pot and drains the water out by off-setting the lid just a bit while pouring the water out into the sink? Or am I just the laziest? Yep....that would be me, the lazy cook.

Nope, Teresa, that's how I drain pasta. Also how I drain potatoes before mashing them, and nearly anything else I boil, then drain. It's not lazy, it's......"efficient". Yeah, that's it, and I don't dirty a colander.

You know, that one time a year when I cook pasta, LOL.

Annie

Not the laziest, Teresa, maybe just among the more coordinated. :) I used to do it that way, then one day the whole thing went cattywampass and I ended up with a sink full of pasta and a while bunch of small burns from flying water. Me = clumsy.

When I was a teenager -and did most of the cooking to earn ten bucks a week allowance- I once used a slotted spoon to remove the spaghetti for our dinner.
My mother laid into me so much with how lazy I was and she was soooo disappointed I would do that, and there was, after all, a small pool of water on each plate, that I cannot go in that direction 30 years later.

Teresa that's how I do it too! As Annie says, not lazy just effiecient.

I do use a colander if I'm cooking a large amount and I use tongs if I want to toss the pasta in the sauce before serving.

Yes, Sharon -- for large amounts I also use a colander. Somehow I never got in the habit of tossing the pasta in the sauce before serving. Maybe that's because my mother never did it that way -- ha! We do become our mothers, you know?

Teresa

Annie , Gina :
Will you two behave !

Teresa:
Take a page out of Beanthere's Book.
Use a Colander !!! We don't want burn marks on you.
Only takes a minute to rinse a Colander. ( Annie )

The Pasta is not tossed in the Sauce.
You toss some Sauce into the Pasta, not too high !!!
That keeps it some sticking together.

More Sauce is added at the table, according to personal taste.
I'm going out into the kitchen , to toss some Pasta,
right into my dish.
LOU

Colander with legs in the sink for pasta. Tongs take to long for me. I save a little of the pasta water though.

I used to sit my lid on the potato pan catawampus to drain, then learned I wasn't getting all of the water out. I now drain my potatoes in the colander, put them back in the pan and sit it on the burner to further dry out the potatoes. I then, add hot milk, salt and butter to the potatoes in the hot pan and mash. Oh but that wasn't what you asked was it?

Teresa, some pastas I toss in the sauce, some I don't. It all depends on the type of pasta dish I am making but that's another thread! LOL

Just about always use a colander for pasta. It is faster and easier to do it that way. Not all of the pasta water drains away as I don't let the pasta sit in the colander to drain dry. Tongs I use for other things like frying or turning roasted veggies, etc. NancyLouise

Getting off topic, but that's a GOOD thing!

Beverly, I've never thought of doing my potatoes that way, I grab them out of the water into a bowl using a fork or tongs, one at a time, then mash in the bowl. But oh - your way makes much more sense! I'm going to do that next time, if I can ONLY remember!!

My mother NEVER tossed the sauce into the pasta. They were always served separately. HOWEVER, she always tossed in some butter (or margarine) into the pasta to keep it from sticking. I always toss the sauce in right away.

It's the remembering that's hard these days isn't it lowspark! LOL

You're not kidding!! I'd write myself a note... but then I'd forget to read it!! LOL

Lowspark:
I write notes and forget where I put them !!!

Sometimes I put Butter or Oil in the Pasta to keep it from sticking.
But mostly I put in 2 Latels of sauce on the Pasta and give it a quick mix.
Lou

I was cooking pasta with a friend this summer on holiday, and we were discussing all this stuff. He is of Italian heritage so considers cooking his birthright, LOL.

He strongly disapproved of putting oil in the water or on the pasta after draining it. He said the sauce wouldn't "stick" as well with the oil.

I believe in oil. I put a little oil and mix it into the drained pasta to prevent sticking. It helps to put it in the pasta water also. (I don't care what Alton Brown says about THAT!) My sauces have no problem adhering to the pasta afterwards.

Viva La Pasta!

(Lou, I have about 10 folded up post-it notes in my purse as we speak!)

Colander almost all the time. Do it with potatoes too as was mentioned above and use the same pot to mash them in.