Questions Regarding Cooking Pastalaya

1) use your favorite noodle. I add heavy cream to my Pastalaya because I want it more like a pasta sauce and less like just jambalaya with pasta. I use penne because that hold sauce well and is more forgiving to being overcooked.

2)4:1 works for me & my method

3) Just remember to taste the cooking liquid before adding the pasta. Whatever your pot tastes like, is what your Pastalaya will taste like. Little adjustments can be made after but you want to get the bulk of your base flavor correct before adding the pasta.

I like spaghetti or penne. Some people use rotini or bow tie, but I think spaghetti or penne is best.

Cook it the same way as jambalaya until it’s time for the pasta. I use 4.5 cups of water per pound of pasta. If you’re wondering how much pasta to cook in your pot, you can figure the amount of pasta needed based on the water you use for a jambalaya. If you normally use 1 gallon of water in your jambalaya recipe, multiply 1 gallon by 16 cups and then divide by 4.5. That gives you pounds of pasta.

Bring the water to a boil, add your pasta, let it cook until the water is gone. Stir every minute or two. I don’t use the lid, I keep it uncovered. Once the water is gone, I turn the fire off and put the lid on and let it sit for 10 minutes. The pasta will soak up the last little bit of water.

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2. What is the correct water : noodle ratio?

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not sure why everyone worries about this with noodles. it's not rice. you can put the noodles in the pot, close the lid with hardly any water and the steam alone will cook them. check them on occasion and stop when cooked to your liking.

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Huh? This makes no sense whatsoever. You have to have enough steam to cook them and steam comes from water.

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that's why i said "hardly" knucklehead.

it doesn't take but a few minutes of steam to cook this shite.

add as much water as you want/need.

Not true. If you’re cooking a 30 gallon pot, a gallon or two of water will “prevent the meat from burning and produce steam for 15 minutes” but no way is it enough for 30 pounds of pasta. Now you’re changing your “all you need is a few minutes of steam to cook this shite” to 15 minutes.

I think the point you’re trying to make is the water doesn’t need to be exact. But it does indeed need to be within a certain amount or it can be undercooked and dry or too wet.

I use 4.5 cups of water per pound of pasta.

I find either 4 or 4.5 works.

Add a big block of Velveeta and some cream cheese!

Gemelli is the BEST pasta to use for pastalaya. There is no debate, unless you have not used Gemelli in the past. It is braided, so it’s dense enough to hold up to the longer cook you want in order to develop flavor. For every gallon, add a cup of heavy cream before you put the lid on top. Provides a much richer , denser flavor profile.