L'amore Italian Restaurant

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What Does Al Dente Pasta Mean?

If you are looking for a way to cook your pasta like in Italian, then you have probably heard the term Al Dente pasta in the past. Al Dente is one of the most common styles of cooking pasta and is closely associated with Italian food. If you are trying to cook more pasta Al Dente, then your pasta needs to be tender but still firm to the bite. At the very least, your pasta should not be mushy. When it comes to Italian chef, will she pasta is the bane of their existence. If you want to cook your pasta Al Dente, there are a few key points to keep in mind. 

The Test For Al Dente Pasta

There are several ways that you can test your pasta to make sure that it is cooked Al Dente. One of the most common tips that many Italian chefs prefer to involves biting into a piece of pasta. When you bite into a piece of authentic pasta, you should see a tiny white dot located in the center of the piece of pasta. While this dot actually means that the center of the pasta is slightly undercooked, it lets you know that you have cooked your pasta Al Dente. 

Al Dente Pasta Has Some Bite To It

When you are trying to cook your pasta al dente, you should start biting into a piece of pasta a minute or two before the instructions indicated on the package. When you bite into it, you should notice some slight resistance to the pasta. If the pasta is still tender, then you have reached Al Dente perfection. Note that fresh pasta is going to feel a little bit different than dried pasta. Fresh pasta usually cooks quicker than dry pasta because fresh pasta still has some water to it. Still, even if you are working with fresh pasta, al dente pasta should still have some bite to it.

Never Overcook Pasta

If you want to cook your pasta like an Italian, and the biggest thing that you have to remember is not to overcook the pasta. If you are working with fresh pasta, it is going to cook more quickly. Therefore, you are going to have less margin for error. With this in mind, keep a close watch on your pasta and shoot for Al Dente every time. 

 

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The Top Tips for Making Perfect Italian Pasta

If you want to truly eat Italian pasta, and you have to be able to make it from scratch. Some people might be shocked at the idea of making their own pasta instead of simply buying it at the store. At the same time, there is something special about homemade pasta. Take a look at some of the top tips for making homemade pasta below. 

Consider The Sauce

First, you have to consider the sauce that is going to go with the pasta. There are different shapes of pasta and the shapes are important because they are meant to grab the sauce. For example, shorter pasta, such as penne and cavatelli are going to be better at grabbing onto the sauce than longer types of pasta. Furthermore, pasta that has ridges, such as rigatoni, is going to grab sauce better than pasta that is smooth. Therefore, you should consider this when you are thinking about what type of pasta you want to make. 

Start With Less Flour

Remember that it is easier to add more ingredients than to take it out. With this in mind, always start with less flour. Good pasta is usually going to be somewhere around 50 percent water by weight. It is better to start by making the dough a bit wetter because it is always easier to add more flour than it is to add more water. At the same time, you don’t want the final pasta to be caked in flour. Therefore, be sparing with a flower and add more if needed. 

Knead The Dough Thoroughly

Finally, the longer you knead the pasta dough, the easier it is going to be to roll out later. Therefore, try to knead it for at least 10 minutes at the start. Once the surface is no longer sticky, it will be good to go. This will help you create pasta that is uniform in color and smooth with those perfect dimples on the surface. 

Make Italian Pasta From Scratch

Once you are done with this process, let the dough rest. Try to rest it for at least a half-hour before shaping it. Following these tips will help you create the perfect Italian pasta. Don’t hesitate to try to make several different shapes! Some shapes of pasta are better are certain types of sauces than others.

 

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Everything You Need to Know About Using Red Wine in Pasta Sauce

Take a look at the ingredients listed on the jars of pasta sauce in your kitchen pantry and you will likely find red wine listed more often than not.  A small amount of the right red wine has the potential to transform an average Italian dish into a spectacular one.  Red wine contains a variety of important compounds that dramatically improve the flavor of sauce as well as other cooked dishes.

Alcohol’s Role in Flavorful Sauce

The alcohol in wine triggers the release of flavor molecules into sauce, making every ingredient it contacts taste that much better.  Alcohol also dissolves fats, empowering sauce ingredients to release their nuanced flavors.  Other liquids and fats such as broth, water, olive oil and butter do not trigger a similar dissolving and subsequent flavor release.

As long as the alcohol is given sufficient time to cook off, it really will make the sauce taste that much better.  The best chefs in the business cook wine-infused sauce to the point that half the wine is cooked away.  Once the alcohol burns to this level, the sauce’s flavor begins to concentrate, providing quite the delicious taste.

Red Wine Acidity

Ask anyone who has paired a red wine such as Merlot with a dish featuring red tomato sauce about the experience and you will find the tomatoes burn straight through the wine, giving it a flat taste.  Low-acid wines like Merlot are overpowered by the highly-acidic tomato sauce used in pasta dishes, pizzas, etc.

This is precisely why truly elite chefs rely on wines like Chianti Classico for dishes featuring tomato sauce.  Chianti’s primary grape, the sangiovese, has the precise level of acid necessary to perfectly jive with that found in tomato sauce.

Perform a Taste Test

If you are still undecided as to whether red wine belongs in tomato sauce, perform a blind taste test.  Have a family member or friend prepare two separate pasta dishes: one with red wine-infused sauce and the other with plain sauce.  Give each a try and you will likely notice the pasta, pizza or other entrees topped with a sauce containing red wine tastes superior.  Red wine’s bold flavor really is the x-factor of the world’s best tomato sauces.

However, any old red wine will not suffice for truly tasty tomato sauce.  Our chefs abide by this mantra when it comes to using red wine in tomato sauce: “If we won’t drink it, we won’t eat it.”  This means you won’t find any table wine, wine from a box or any other subpar wine in our tomato sauce.  Our tomato sauce contains only the highest quality, most palate-pleasing red wine guaranteed to please your taste buds.

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4 Little-known Italian Culinary Traditions

Did you know famous Italian-American chef Lidia Bastianich uses diced celery in her pasta sauce?  How about the fact that real Italians do not use butter on their fresh Italian bread?

These are a couple of interesting Italian culinary tidbits only the true cultural insiders are aware of.

Though the nuances of Italian cooking and eating might seem a bit odd to outsiders, these traditions developed for good reason.

Here’s the inside scoop on five of the most intriguing Italian culinary traditions.

Real Italians Serve Courses as Opposed to one Large Entrée

American restaurants often center service on a gigantic entrée followed by a cup of coffee and dessert.  Things are done a little differently in Italy and America’s true Italian restaurants.  Real Italian meals commence with a starter, typically in the form of antipasto.  The next course is a primo such as risotto, pasta or polenta.

A secondo in the form of fish or meat follows.  A contorno is served next in the form of cooked vegetables or even a small salad.  The final course is dolce, meaning dessert.  The purpose of staggering courses in such a manner is to keep portions under control while providing a carefully measured meal pace, allowing diners to truly savor the flavor of each dish.

Vegetables are Best When Hammered

No, we are not suggesting you get hammered before devouring a side of our tasty vegetables!  Rather, “hammering” is a term some Italians such as Mario Batali use in reference to well-cooked vegetables.  Though Italians are famous for their al dente pasta, we cook veggies longer than most others.  Such slight overcooking elicits those intense textures and flavors necessary to bring out the best in a side of veggies.

Butter Does not Belong on Bread

Though many of our diners desire butter for their bread, those who abide by Italian tradition prefer olive oil.  Some Italians even put vinegar on their bread.  Take a trip to Italy and you will undoubtedly find some diners saving their bread for the end of the meal, using it to soak up leftover pasta sauce.  Whether you would like butter, olive oil or vinegar for your bread, we’ve got you covered.

Fruit is a Perfectly Acceptable Dessert

There is a common misconception that tiramisu, cannoli, and gelato are the only Italian desserts served in Italian restaurants.  However, as real Italians know, fruit is a common Italian dessert.

Enjoy a small bowl of cherries or strawberries after your meal and you will feel quite satiated.  Additional Italian fruit desserts include figs, melons, peaches, persimmons, and plums.

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3159 E Lincoln Dr
Phoenix , AZ 85016
Phone: 602.381.3159

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Credit for most photos: Kay W. Eskridge: Images By Kay

Our Hours

Lunch
TBD.
Dinner
Mon – Sat: 4pm–9pm
Saturday Dinner: 4pm–9pm

Sunday Closed

Happy Hour
Mon – Fri: 4:00pm–6:00pm
No happy hour on Saturdays

Holiday Closures: New Year's Day, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, sometimes Christmas Eve (call to check), Christmas Day

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