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America's Test Kitchen Season 26 Episode 2
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00:00.
00:30Today on America's Test Kitchen, Keith makes Julia spaghetti al-assassina.
00:43Jack challenges Bridget and Julia to a head-to-head tasting of whole canned tomatoes.
00:49And Elle makes Bridget triple mushroom pasta.
00:52It's all coming up right here on America's Test Kitchen.
01:00Spaghetti al-assassina, or the Assassin's Spaghetti, is a dish from the city of Bari in Italy, which is on the Adriatic coast.
01:12And it's a very simple dish, but it has a unique cooking method, which Keith, Keith the Killer, is going to show us how to make today.
01:19At first glance, this is spaghetti with tomato sauce, but you said a unique technique.
01:24And that unique technique of simmering and frying the pasta in one skillet is what makes it so great.
01:31It has this super concentrated tomato sauce, and the texture of the pasta runs from soft to al dente to crunchy.
01:37It's absolutely fantastic.
01:39I can't wait.
01:40So the method is called risotto torta.
01:42So it's cooking the pasta like rice, where you're adding small amounts of broth to pasta, letting that cook down and reduce, and then adding a little bit more.
01:51So we're going to start with our tomato broth.
01:54So I have six cups of water in that medium saucepan.
01:57I'm going to add a quarter cup of tomato paste to that.
02:00So this is similar to making risotto, where you'd have a broth going on the side and slowly add it to the dish.
02:06Correct.
02:07And I'm also going to add a teaspoon of sugar to that.
02:11That will just balance the tomato's acidity, give it a little bit of sweetness.
02:15So I'm going to whisk that in there.
02:19That looks good.
02:20So I'm just going to turn that on medium-high.
02:23I'm going to let that come up to a simmer.
02:25Once it's up to a simmer, I'm just going to turn it down to the lowest possible setting on our burner and put a cover on that.
02:30Okay.
02:30While our broth is coming up to a simmer, we can focus on our skillet and start to cook some of our aromatics.
02:36I have a third of a cup of olive oil in this 12-inch non-stick skillet.
02:40It sounds like a fair amount of oil, but we're going to be frying at the end, and you're going to thank me, because you're going to have a lot of starch in there, and it will stick like crazy if you don't have some oil.
02:48So to that oil, I'm going to add two cloves of minced garlic, and I'm going to add three-quarters teaspoon of hot red pepper flakes.
02:58Hello.
02:58Hello.
02:59It's spicy.
03:00We want it spicy, and that's where the name of Sissina comes from.
03:03So I'm just going to turn this skillet on medium, and we're going to cook that until that's nice and fragrant, which will take about two minutes.
03:14It's been cooking for two minutes, and you can smell that garlic already.
03:18Now, I'm going to add one cup of tomato passata to this.
03:22Interesting.
03:22Now, that's not an ingredient we've called for a lot in the past.
03:25No, relatively new to us.
03:27It's similar to a tomato puree, but rather than the tomatoes being cooked, the tomatoes are raw, so it's a lot brighter, a lot more acidic.
03:34I'm also going to add one-and-three-quarters teaspoon of table salt, and that's going to season our pasta.
03:41I just want those flavors to kind of meld for that passata to reduce a little bit, which will take four minutes.
03:45It's been four minutes, and our passata has been cooking, and it's slightly reduced, so now I'm going to add our pasta.
03:53I have 12 ounces of spaghetti here.
03:56Try to get that into an as even layer as possible.
03:58You can't get it fully even, but that looks perfect, and I'm going to start adding our broth.
04:04So this is our first addition.
04:06I have one cup of tomato broth.
04:08It's really important to kind of be diligent about stirring at the beginning.
04:11Get that sauce in between there and stir.
04:14And this is going to take four to five minutes for that to start absorbing in there, and then we'll come back and add a little bit more broth.
04:22Okay, you can see a lot of that moisture has been absorbed into the pasta, and the pasta is actually starting to soften a little bit, so it's shaping into the form of the skillet.
04:32And you can also see the oil starting to break a little bit and sizzle around the edges.
04:36Yeah, you can hear it.
04:38So that is the first cup.
04:40So now I'll add another cup, and I'll continue to stir this and kind of separate the strands, making sure the sauce is in between those strands and it's not sticking, especially up here and here where they're kind of pinched together.
04:55This is so interesting.
04:58I have to say, I've never cooked pasta like this.
04:59Yeah, it takes a little while because you have to keep stirring it, but it's well worth it, promise.
05:05Okay, so I'm just going to continue stirring this, making sure that I shake the skillet and get in between the layers of pasta for about five to seven minutes until that liquid is almost all absorbed.
05:16Our second edition of broth has reduced down, and now it's time to do a little flip.
05:22So I want to flip this to make sure that the pasta is cooking evenly.
05:26Most of the cooking is happening in the bottom.
05:28Yeah.
05:28So I want to make sure that the top pieces go to the bottom, bottom pieces come to the top.
05:32So the easiest way is to take two thin spatulas, and I'm going to separate them and do it in two batches.
05:43Whoa.
05:44Yeah, and you can see we're getting some caramelization in there.
05:47Yeah.
05:48And that's exactly what we want.
05:50That's going to add a ton of flavor to this dish.
05:53I'll flip the second side over like that.
05:56Straighten that up a little bit like so.
06:00More broth.
06:02This is our third cup of broth.
06:04Add that.
06:07Just like we've been doing in the past, make sure we separate those strands.
06:12And then wait another five to seven minutes.
06:14Okay.
06:16Third edition of broth has been absorbed by the pasta, and now it's time for another cup.
06:21This is fascinating.
06:27Even though it's just broth going on pasta, how the pasta is reacting is really unusual.
06:33Yeah, it's a transformative process that's really fun to watch.
06:38Okay.
06:38Again, another five to seven minutes.
06:40We'll come back, and we'll do a second flip at that point.
06:43Okay.
06:44Fourth cup of broth is now absorbed, and we've been cooking for about 20, 25 minutes.
06:49And now it's time for a second turn, just like last time.
06:55And again, turning is going to even out the cook and also even out some of that browning.
07:00That browning looks delicious, by the way.
07:02I think that's the best part of this dish.
07:05Okay.
07:07Because the pasta's starting to cook, it's not going to stay in these nice, perfectly long strands, but that's okay.
07:12So I'm going to add one more cup of broth here.
07:15Now, after the fifth cup of broth, it's getting really pretty close, and so what I'll do is I'll let this cook down, and as it's cooking down, I'll keep testing for doneness.
07:27If at end of five or seven minutes, it needs a little bit more time, I'll add a little bit more broth, half a cup at a time.
07:33But this might be it.
07:34Okay.
07:34So this dish is perfect for spill-prone eaters like myself, because the sauce winds up inside the pasta.
07:42Let's take a closer look.
07:44When you cook pasta the traditional way, heat and moisture work together to cook the pasta's starch, allowing it to soften and absorb water from the outside in.
07:54In fact, 12 ounces of pasta will absorb about 18 ounces of water during cooking.
07:59For spaghetti al-assassina, instead of boiling the noodles in water, we cook them directly in a brothy sauce of tomato paste, tomato passata, and water.
08:10The spaghetti still absorbs 18 ounces of liquid, but now the tomato sauce is inside the pasta.
08:15This allows us to get noodles that are jam-packed with flavor, without any extra sauce on top or on my shirt.
08:23Our fifth cup of broth has been absorbed by the pasta.
08:26Now I just want to go in and grab a strand to see if it is ready.
08:32Perfect.
08:33Just a perfect al dente.
08:34So, at this point, we don't need any more broth.
08:37We're actually going to increase the heat, and we want to promote more browning.
08:41So I'm going to go up to high.
08:43I'm just going to leave the pasta without stirring it for three to five minutes until that bottom is nice and brown and crisp.
08:50And actually, if we get some charring on there, that's a good thing.
08:53I've been cooking this for about three minutes, and I've been kind of periodically checking underneath there with a spatula to see how it's going.
09:00And it looks beautiful.
09:01So I'm going to cut the heat.
09:03You can smell it, too.
09:05You can smell the change in the pasta.
09:08You can smell, oh, that's what I smelled.
09:10Yeah.
09:10Is that all right?
09:11Yeah, that's okay.
09:12That charring is a good thing.
09:13You want some charring there.
09:15So I'm just going to kind of stir this in so we get a wide range of textures when we serve this.
09:20Okay.
09:21So I'm just going to have one final addition of two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
09:26I'm going to add a nice fruity flavor to this.
09:30Ooh.
09:31That looks so good.
09:32You know, you usually think of charring on pieces of meat, like out on the grill.
09:36You think char is good.
09:38Rarely do you think charred pasta is good.
09:40So this is kind of a first for me.
09:41I think you will enjoy it.
09:43All right.
09:52Mmm.
09:55There is so much more flavor in this dish than it looks like.
09:59It is packed with tomato flavor.
10:01I got the kick of the heat.
10:03Yeah, it does have a kick to it, doesn't it?
10:04The garlic.
10:05But it's the texture of the pasta.
10:07There's some al dente bits, some tender bits.
10:10And then you get a crunchy bit like that, kind of mixed in.
10:14I know.
10:15Mmm, mmm, mmm.
10:16Yeah, it really does pack a punch.
10:17Yeah.
10:19Welcome.
10:19If you want to make this killer pasta dish, start by making a tomato broth and a tomato
10:25sauce in separate pans.
10:27Cook the spaghetti in the sauce, periodically adding broth and flipping it over.
10:32Finish cooking over high heat until the spaghetti begins to char.
10:36From America's Test Kitchen.
10:37A terrific recipe for spaghetti al assassino.
10:40You don't even need, like, cheese or anything on this.
10:45It is perfect as is.
10:51So I have some news.
10:53I've changed my mind about something earth-shattering.
10:57Okay.
10:58Intrigued.
10:59For years, I've been telling people on America's Test Kitchen, you should just buy American
11:03canned tomatoes.
11:04Mm-hmm.
11:04Right.
11:05I think I may have been wrong.
11:06Really?
11:07No.
11:08Yeah.
11:08No, it's not really my fault.
11:09Okay.
11:09The way we were tasting the tomatoes gave the American brands a leg up.
11:14So these are San Marzano tomatoes from Italy.
11:17You see, they're long and skinny.
11:19They have very thin walls, so you get more of the flavorful jelly inside.
11:23But they're much softer.
11:25There's no calcium chloride, that firming agent that the American tomatoes, which look
11:30nice and firm is because they've got this calcium chloride.
11:34What you can't see is they also have four times as much salt, and they have citric acid
11:38to make them punchier.
11:39And so when you do a tasting right from the can, as you guys know, saltier foods always
11:45win taste tests.
11:46Mm-hmm.
11:46That's right.
11:47And when we did the taste test then with sauce, which is what you're tasting now, it's a very
11:50basic, simple sauce, the results flipped on their head.
11:53And we decided we should really just be prioritizing the sauce tasting because who eats canned tomatoes
11:58right from the can?
12:00Not too many people.
12:00Not too many people.
12:00So in addition to San Marzano tomatoes, DOP from Italy, they've got the label.
12:07They're more expensive and the classic American style.
12:10There is a third choice on the table.
12:12There are now San Marzano style tomatoes from the U.S.
12:16We thought this was really kind of confusing because they're kind of halfway in price point
12:21between the more expensive Italian tomatoes and the cheaper American.
12:24Some of the brands are closer to the Italian tomatoes in the sense they're longer and skinnier.
12:29One brand didn't have the calcium chloride, the firming agent.
12:32But a lot of the brands were like, okay, this is the same as their American product.
12:35And in most cases, we thought San Marzano style.
12:39If you really want San Marzano tomatoes, you should be getting the thing from Italy,
12:42not the faux product from the U.S.
12:45Right.
12:46We still like American tomatoes, you know, especially if you want something that's got more acidity to it.
12:53But our winner is actually from Italy.
12:56So you've been tasting the sauces.
12:58So these are very simple sauces, obviously.
13:00My shirt's been tasting, too.
13:03I can count on you for that, Julia.
13:04You want to go first and tell me what you're thinking about the samples in front of you?
13:09First of all, the sauce is delicious.
13:10Yeah, it's a great...
13:11They're all passable.
13:13The second one is my least favorite.
13:15It's a bit watery.
13:17It's just, it has a little less flavor than the others.
13:19I like all the others.
13:20I really like number one.
13:22Okay.
13:23It's lovely.
13:24It's, I like the texture of it.
13:26And what about the texture?
13:28The texture's just a bit smoother.
13:29Okay.
13:30And some of these, there are chunks, which I'm guessing is the calcium chloride.
13:33And I don't like that in my sauce.
13:35They still taste a little raw.
13:36Whereas the others, it feels like a cooked sauce.
13:39And so I like the texture.
13:41It tastes like a sweet tomato.
13:43Okay.
13:43And so I like that.
13:44C's good.
13:45D, I get more of those chunky bits.
13:47But the flavor of D is better than the flavor of B.
13:50But they're...
13:50So I guess A and C are kind of my favorites.
13:53D is great.
13:54B, least favorite.
13:55But I'd still eat it for dinner.
13:57Yeah.
13:57Well, Bridget?
13:58Ditto.
14:01What, you're making her do all the work?
14:02Yeah, kind of.
14:04I mean, she nailed it.
14:06I was thinking the same thing.
14:08The chunkier D, I would maybe make a salsa, like a put together salsa with it.
14:12Because you want that chunkier texture.
14:15But again, same thing.
14:16This one had the least amount of flavor.
14:18Okay.
14:19Still delicious.
14:20I am going to switch these two.
14:21I really like these two.
14:22This one was a little too sweet for me.
14:24Okay.
14:25This one, I found, I don't know, it tastes like stewed tomato sauce, which I just love.
14:31I should say, everything on the table is recommended.
14:33So the good news is there are no bad choices here.
14:36So let's start with our winner, which was actually A, the cento.
14:40Now, this is a San Marzano tomato from Italy.
14:42You said it was smoother, and that's because it doesn't have that calcium chloride.
14:46And so one of the advantages of the Italian tomatoes is they break down much faster than
14:51the American tomatoes.
14:53So if you want a really smooth sauce, cento, besides having a wonderful flavor, will get
14:57you there much faster.
14:59Let's go to B.
15:01Okay.
15:01So B is the red gold.
15:02This was actually the runner-up.
15:04Now, I will say, tomatoes will change, right?
15:07It's a crop.
15:07And so this was our best buy.
15:09It was second place.
15:10This is an American tomato, the red gold.
15:12You both were less enthusiastic about the red gold here.
15:17C is the Hunt's San Marzano style.
15:20So this is a tomato.
15:21It's from California.
15:23It's not from Italy.
15:24Of the American San Marzano style, this was the one that we felt like was the closest to
15:29the real thing from Italy.
15:31It was a little softer because it didn't have that calcium chloride.
15:35And you thought it was, you know, delicious.
15:38You loved it as well.
15:40And so I also, then D put the regular Hunts in here just so you can see the difference.
15:45This has got the calcium chloride.
15:47And it's a sort of traditional, what we would think of as an American canned tomato.
15:52So, really interesting.
15:55I love that you both liked A.
15:57Yes.
15:58You know, you're validating that.
15:59Now, the bad news is those San Marzano tomatoes are probably two bucks more a can.
16:04Right.
16:04Okay.
16:05So, well, it costs money to get a can of tomatoes from Italy to Boston.
16:10Yes, that is true.
16:11That is true.
16:12But interesting that if we really think about how to taste these differently, we came up
16:17with different results.
16:19I also love that you can't make a wrong choice.
16:20They're all recommended.
16:22Yeah, that is good news.
16:23And so, you know, if you see something on sale or they don't have the brand, this is a case
16:28where you won't make a mistake at the supermarket.
16:35Some people refer to mushrooms as superfoods.
16:40They're full of nutrients, sure, but they're also full of flavor.
16:44And that's why I call them a mega food.
16:46Now, here to make a pasta dish that's going to bring out the very best of mushrooms is
16:51the wizard, Elle.
16:52That's right.
16:52And what better way to achieve that earthy, savory profile than by using three mushrooms?
16:59Oh, triple mushroom threat.
17:01Oh, yeah.
17:01Oh, yeah.
17:02And we're going to start by making a crispy mushroom, which is going to add a little
17:06flair to our pasta dish.
17:08Love it.
17:08And we're using our first star mushroom, the maitake.
17:13I love these.
17:14Also known as hen of the woods.
17:15And if you don't have this, you can replace them with cremini mushrooms.
17:18Okay, great.
17:19So these look really good.
17:21You will need to do just a little trimming.
17:23I kind of try to take out like that big bone piece, but to keep the good leaves, right,
17:28and tear them apart.
17:29We need half inch pieces here.
17:31So I'm going to just like tear some of these pieces that seem big.
17:35I have two tablespoons of olive oil in there.
17:38All right.
17:38So our oil is shimmering.
17:40It's time to put the mushrooms in.
17:41Great.
17:43So I'm just going to move these around to make sure that they're all kind of on the surface.
17:48We don't want to stir these very much.
17:50We're just going to let them cook for about two to three minutes.
17:52Follow me over here to my special project called Making Duxelles.
17:59Oh, gorgeous.
18:00Yes.
18:00It's a French preparation of mushrooms.
18:02But we're also going to start with our second mushroom.
18:05Okay.
18:06This is a dried porcini mushroom.
18:08And it is not unusual that we would soak a dried porcini mushroom.
18:11In this case, we don't need to.
18:13We just gave it a rinse.
18:14Okay.
18:14To get the porcini dust off.
18:16Right.
18:16Right.
18:16And I have about a quarter of an ounce here.
18:18Just going to add that to the food processor.
18:20I have one shallot.
18:24And three cloves of garlic.
18:27Nice.
18:28And I'm going to process it for about 10 to 15 seconds.
18:34That looks good.
18:35And it smells good, too.
18:37Let's hop back over here to our mushrooms.
18:40They are actually doing exactly what we need them to do, which is to just brown around the edges.
18:45And now that it's done that, we can give it a stir.
18:48Okay.
18:48And then just let them go for another seven to nine minutes.
18:52All right.
18:53Let's come back over to the food processor.
18:56So I'm going to scrape down the sides of this bowl.
18:59Our third and final mushroom.
19:03This is a pound of white mushrooms.
19:05Mm-hmm.
19:05And we're just going to go right into the food processor here.
19:08Yeah, they are the workhorse, I think, of the mushroom world.
19:11They are.
19:11And I think the most adaptable.
19:13These mushrooms can actually take on any flavors.
19:15Sure.
19:15And I love that about white mushrooms.
19:18Okay, so I'm going to just process these mushrooms for an additional 40 to 55 seconds and scrape them down midway.
19:24Okay.
19:25All right, so it's been nine minutes.
19:28And these look beautiful.
19:29They look fantastic.
19:30All right, I'm going to turn the heat off.
19:33And it just needs a little salt and pepper to taste.
19:35Okay.
19:37I'm going to get them out of the pan.
19:38So I'm going to put this back on medium heat and add two tablespoons of butter.
19:48All right.
19:49Butter's foaming.
19:50That's what we need.
19:52And it's time to go in with our duxelles.
19:54Mm-hmm.
19:57Dixelles, cooking is one of the most heavenly aromas in the world.
20:01It is.
20:02The shallot and the mushroom driving off all that moisture.
20:06Gorgeous.
20:07It's like mushroom butter.
20:09It really is.
20:10Right?
20:10Super soft.
20:11Cooks pretty easily.
20:13So I'm just going to add to this one teaspoon of salt.
20:15Okay.
20:17So now that I have the salt in there, we're going to cook this much like we did the maitakes.
20:22We're not going to stir it too much.
20:24We don't need to bother it.
20:25Maybe a little bit.
20:26Okay.
20:27From time to time.
20:28Just check on it.
20:28Just check on it.
20:29And we're looking forward to brown, and that'll take about 10 to 12 minutes.
20:32Okay.
20:34Okay.
20:35I can tell by the look on your face that you know that this duxelles is ready.
20:39So I'm going to take it off the heat.
20:40That smells so good.
20:42It really does.
20:43It really does.
20:44And now I'm going to just add some ingredients to add a little unctuousness to this dish.
20:48So I have a half a cup of heavy cream here.
20:52All right.
20:52So I'm going to add a little acidity here by putting in a tablespoon of lemon juice.
20:56That makes sense.
20:59A little bit of pepper, about an eighth of a teaspoon.
21:01Great.
21:02Yeah.
21:03I'm going to give this a stir.
21:06So I have a pound of campanelle pasta.
21:08Going into just this mere five cups of water.
21:12What we're doing is creating a starchy water base.
21:17I'm also going to add a little salt, teaspoon of salt.
21:19But this is a huge departure.
21:21It's usually for one pound of pasta, dried pasta.
21:23You get four quarts of water.
21:25That's right.
21:25But here we're creating more of a starchy base for our pasta.
21:30Less water, more starch, creamy pasta.
21:33Really smart.
21:34So we're just going to let this go for six to eight minutes, right?
21:37We're looking for the water to be at a partial boil.
21:41Okay.
21:41And we're also going to just cover it slightly.
21:44All right.
21:45So it's time to check this pasta.
21:48I think we are good to go.
21:50We don't need to drain it.
21:51I'm going to take it off the heat.
21:52Let me just move it over here.
21:54And we're pretty much ready to start building our pasta.
21:58We have a duck cell that's ready.
22:01Go in with that.
22:03So I'm going to add one ounce of Pecorino Romano.
22:06And I'm just going to give it a vigorous stir for about one to two minutes.
22:10This is going to activate that starch.
22:13Get our duck cell well incorporated and folded into those beautiful pastas.
22:18Getting your duck cell all in a row.
22:20Yep.
22:21This looks delicious.
22:22Are you ready to eat?
22:23I'm very ready to eat.
22:24Me too.
22:25This looks fantastic.
22:26This is for you.
22:27We'll start light.
22:28We can always go back for more.
22:29I love it.
22:30It's a true pasta course.
22:31And then I'm just going to take the pot.
22:33Oh my gosh.
22:35So I'm going to put a little of our crispy mushrooms, a.k.a. mushroom croutons, on the top here.
22:43Such a pleasing dish.
22:45A little parsley garnish for you.
22:47This is...
22:48I'm fancy.
22:49Five-star restaurant here.
22:51You ready?
22:52Yeah.
22:53Oh my gosh.
23:05Every bite is a deeper and deeper flavor.
23:09Yes.
23:09This is umami packed.
23:11This is gorgeousness in a bowl.
23:14Well, thank you.
23:14I'd expect nothing less.
23:16Anything for you.
23:17Thanks, Al.
23:18Well, if you want to make this wonderful dish, it starts by sauteing maitake mushrooms for a crisp topping.
23:25Create a duxelle by cooking down button mushrooms and dried porcinis.
23:29And boil the pasta in just five cups of water and then toss in the mushrooms and pecorino until nice and creamy.
23:35So from America's Test Kitchen, the Splendiferous Triple Mushroom Pasta.
23:41You can get this recipe and all the recipes from this season, along with product reviews and select episodes.
23:47And those are all on our website, americastestkitchen.com slash tv.
23:54Mistress of maitake.
23:56At your service.
23:57Mistress of maitake.
23:58Mistress of maitake.
23:58Mistress of maitake.
23:58Mistress of maitake.
23:58Mistress of maitake.
23:59Mistress of maitake.
24:00Mistress of maitake.
24:00Mistress of maitake.
24:00Mistress of maitake.
24:00Mistress of maitake.
24:01Mistress of maitake.
24:01Mistress of maitake.
24:02Mistress of maitake.
24:02Mistress of maitake.
24:03Mistress of maitake.
24:04Mistress of maitake.
24:05Mistress of maitake.
24:06Mistress of maitake.
24:07Mistress of maitake.
24:08Mistress of maitake.
24:09Mistress of maitake.
24:10Mistress of maitake.
24:11Mistress of maitake.
24:12Mistress of maitake.
24:13Mistress of maitake.
24:14Mistress of maitake.
24:15Mistress of maitake.
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