America's Test Kitchen Season 26 Episode 2

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Transcript

00:00I'll see you next time

00:30Today on America's Test Kitchen,

00:39Keith makes Julia spaghetti al assassino.

00:43Jack challenges Bridget and Julia to a head-to-head tasting

00:46of full 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 assassino, or the Assassin's Spaghetti,

01:07is a dish from the city of Bari in Italy,

01:10which is on the Adriatic coast.

01:12And it's a very simple dish, but it has a unique cooking method,

01:15which Keith, Keith the Killer, is going to show us how to make today.

01:19At first glance, this is spaghetti with tomato sauce,

01:22but you said a unique technique.

01:24And that unique technique of simmering and frying the pasta in one skillet

01:29is what makes it so great.

01:31It has this super concentrated tomato sauce,

01:34and 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,

01:45where you're adding small amounts of broth to pasta,

01:48letting that cook down and reduce,

01:50and 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.

01:57And I'm going to add a quarter cup of tomato paste to that.

02:00So this is similar to making risotto,

02:02where 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,

02:13give 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,

02:26I'm just going to turn it down to the lowest possible setting on our burner

02:29and put a cover on that.

02:30Okay.

02:30While our broth is coming up to a simmer,

02:32we 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,

02:42but we're going to be frying at the end,

02:44and you're going to thank me,

02:45because you're going to have a lot of starch in there,

02:46and it will stick like crazy if you don't have some oil.

02:49To that oil, I'm going to add two cloves of minced garlic.

02:53I'm going to add three-quarters teaspoon of hot red pepper flakes.

02:58Hello.

02:59It's spicy.

03:00We want it spicy,

03:01and that's where the name of Cecina comes from.

03:03So I'm just going to turn this skillet on medium,

03:08and we're going to cook that until that's nice and fragrant,

03:10which will take about two minutes.

03:14It's been cooking for two minutes,

03:16and 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, it's relatively new to us.

03:27It's similar to a tomato puree,

03:29but rather than the tomatoes being cooked,

03:31the tomatoes are raw,

03:32so it's a lot brighter, a lot more acidic.

03:34I'm also going to add one and three-quarters teaspoon of table salt,

03:37and that's going to season our pasta.

03:40Just want those flavors to kind of meld

03:42for that passata to reduce a little bit,

03:44which will take four minutes.

03:46It's been four minutes,

03:47and our passata has been cooking,

03:49and it's slightly reduced.

03:51So now I'm going to add our pasta.

03:53I have 12 ounces of spaghetti here.

03:55Try to get that into an as even layer as possible.

03:58You can't get it fully even,

04:00but that looks perfect,

04:02and I'm going to start adding our broth.

04:04So this is our first addition.

04:05I have one cup of tomato broth.

04:07It's really important to kind of be diligent

04:10about stirring at the beginning.

04:11Get that sauce in between there and stir,

04:14and this is going to take four to five minutes

04:16for that to start absorbing in there,

04:18and then we'll come back and add a little bit more broth.

04:22Okay, you can see a lot of that moisture

04:25has been absorbed into the pasta,

04:27and the pasta is actually starting to soften a little bit,

04:29so it's shaping into the form of the skillet.

04:31And you can also see the oil starting to break a little bit

04:34and sizzle around the edges.

04:37Yeah, you can hear it.

04:38So that is the first cup.

04:40So now I'll add another cup,

04:42and I'll continue to stir this

04:45and kind of separate the strands,

04:47making sure the sauce is in between those strands

04:50and it's not sticking,

04:52especially up here and here

04:53where they're kind of pinched together.

04:55This is so interesting.

04:57I have to say, I've never cooked pasta like this.

05:00Yeah, it takes a little while

05:01because you have to keep stirring it,

05:03but it's well worth it, promise.

05:05Okay, so I'm just going to continue stirring this,

05:08making sure that I shake the skillet

05:09and get in between the layers of pasta

05:11for about five to seven minutes

05:13until that liquid is almost all absorbed.

05:16Our second edition of broth has reduced down,

05:20and now it's time to do a little flip.

05:23So I want to flip this

05:24to make sure that the pasta is cooking evenly.

05:26Most of the cooking is happening in the bottom,

05:28so I want to make sure

05:29that the top pieces go to the bottom,

05:31bottom pieces come to the top.

05:32So the easiest way

05:33is to take two thin spatulas,

05:34and I'm going to separate them

05:36and do it in two batches.

05:43Whoa.

05:43Yeah, and you can see

05:44we'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.

05:58More broth.

06:02This is our third cup of broth.

06:04Add that.

06:07Just like we've been doing in the past,

06:09make sure we separate those strands,

06:11and then wait another five to seven minutes.

06:14Okay.

06:16Third edition of broth

06:17has been absorbed by the pasta,

06:19and now it's time for another cup.

06:21This is fascinating.

06:27Even though it's just broth going on pasta,

06:30how the pasta is reacting is really unusual.

06:33Yeah, it's a transformative process

06:35that's really fun to watch.

06:38Okay.

06:38Again, another five to seven minutes.

06:40We'll come back,

06:41and we'll do a second flip at that point.

06:43Okay.

06:44Fourth cup of broth is now absorbed,

06:46and we've been cooking for about 20, 25 minutes,

06:49and now it's time for a second turn,

06:53just like last time.

06:54And again,

06:55turning is going to even out the cook

06:57and also even out some of that browning.

06:59That browning looks delicious, by the way.

07:02I think that's the best part of this dish.

07:05Okay.

07:07Because the pasta is starting to cook,

07:08it's not going to stay in these nice,

07:10perfectly long strands,

07:11but that's okay.

07:12So I'm going to add one more cup of broth here.

07:15Now, after the fifth cup of broth,

07:19it's getting really pretty close,

07:21and so what I'll do is I'll let this cook down,

07:23and as it's cooking down,

07:25I'll keep testing for doneness.

07:27If at end of five or seven minutes,

07:29it needs a little bit more time,

07:30I'll add a little bit more broth,

07:31half a cup at a time,

07:33but this might be it.

07:34Okay.

07:35So this dish is perfect for spill-prone eaters like myself

07:39because the sauce winds up inside the pasta.

07:42Let's take a closer look.

07:43When you cook pasta the traditional way,

07:47heat and moisture work together to cook the pasta's starch,

07:50allowing it to soften and absorb water from the outside in.

07:54In fact, 12 ounces of pasta

07:56will absorb about 18 ounces of water during cooking.

08:00For spaghetti al-assassina,

08:02instead of boiling the noodles in water,

08:04we cook them directly in a brothy sauce

08:06of tomato paste, tomato passata, and water.

08:09The spaghetti still absorbs 18 ounces of liquid,

08:12but now the tomato sauce is inside the pasta.

08:15This allows us to get noodles

08:17that are jam-packed with flavor

08:19without 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

08:28to see if it is ready.

08:32Perfect.

08:32Just a perfect al dente.

08:33So, at this point,

08:36we don't need any more broth.

08:37We're actually going to increase the heat

08:39and 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

08:45for three to five minutes

08:47until that bottom is nice and brown and crisp.

08:49And actually, if we get some charring on there,

08:52that's a good thing.

08:54I've been cooking this for about three minutes

08:56and I've been kind of periodically checking underneath there

08:58with a spatula to see how it's going.

08:59And 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

09:17so we get a wide range of textures when we serve this.

09:20Okay.

09:21So I'm just going to have one final addition

09:23of two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.

09:25I'm going to add a nice fruity flavor to this.

09:29Ooh, that looks so good.

09:32You know, you usually think of charring on pieces of meat

09:35like out on the grill.

09:36You think char is good.

09:37Rarely do you think charred pasta is good.

09:39So this is kind of a first for me.

09:41I think you will enjoy it.

09:44All right.

09:51Mmm.

09:55There is so much more flavor in this dish

09:57than 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,

10:12kind of mixed in.

10:14I know.

10:14Mmm.

10:16Yeah, it really does pack a punch.

10:17Yeah.

10:18Welcome.

10:19If you want to make this killer pasta dish,

10:22start by making a tomato broth

10:24and a tomato sauce in separate pans.

10:27Cook the spaghetti in the sauce,

10:29periodically adding broth and flipping it over.

10:32Finish cooking over high heat

10:33until the spaghetti begins to char.

10:35From 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

11:01on America's Test Kitchen,

11:02you should just buy American canned tomatoes.

11:04Mm-hmm.

11:04Right.

11:05I think I may have been wrong.

11:06Really?

11:07No.

11:07Yeah, no, it's not really my fault.

11:09Okay.

11:09The way we were tasting the tomatoes

11:11gave 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,

11:20so you get more of the flavorful jelly inside.

11:23But they're much softer.

11:25There's no calcium chloride,

11:26that firming agent,

11:28that the American tomatoes,

11:29which look nice and firm,

11:31is because they've got this calcium chloride.

11:33What you can't see

11:34is they also have four times as much salt,

11:37and they have citric acid to make them punchier.

11:39And so when you do a tasting right from the can,

11:42as you guys know,

11:43saltier foods always win taste tests.

11:46Mm-hmm.

11:46That's right.

11:47And when we did the taste test then with sauce,

11:49which is what you're tasting now,

11:50it's a very basic, simple sauce,

11:52the results flipped on their head.

11:53And we decided we should really just be prioritizing

11:56the sauce tasting

11:56because who eats canned tomatoes right from the can?

11:59Not too many people.

12:00So in addition to San Marzano tomatoes,

12:04DOP from Italy,

12:06they've got the label,

12:07they're more expensive,

12:08and the classic American style,

12:09there 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

12:18because they're kind of halfway in price point

12:20between the more expensive Italian tomatoes

12:22and the cheaper American.

12:24Some of the brands are closer to the Italian tomatoes

12:27in the sense they're longer and skinnier.

12:29One brand didn't have the calcium chloride,

12:31the firming agent,

12:32but a lot of the brands were like,

12:33okay, this is the same as their American product.

12:35Right.

12:35And in most cases,

12:36we thought San Marzano style.

12:39If you really want San Marzano tomatoes,

12:40you should be getting the thing from Italy,

12:42not the faux product from the U.S.

12:45Right.

12:45We still like American tomatoes,

12:48you know,

12:48especially if you want something

12:51that'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.

13:05You want to go first

13:06and tell me what you're thinking

13:07about the samples in front of you?

13:08First of all, the sauce is delicious.

13:10Yeah, it's a great one.

13:11They're all passable.

13:13The second one is my least favorite.

13:15It's a bit watery.

13:17It's just,

13:17it has a little less flavor than the others.

13:19I like all the others.

13:20I really like number one.

13:22Okay.

13:22It's, it's lovely.

13:24It's, I like the texture of it.

13:26And what about the texture?

13:27The texture's just a bit smoother.

13:29Okay.

13:29And some of these,

13:30there are chunks,

13:31which I'm guessing is the calcium chloride.

13:33And I don't like that in my sauce.

13:34They still taste a little raw.

13:36Whereas the others,

13:37it feels like a cooked sauce.

13:39And so I like the texture.

13:41It tastes like a sweet tomato.

13:42Okay.

13:43And so I like that.

13:44C is 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.

13:56Yeah.

13:57Well, Bridget?

13:58Ditto.

14:01What, you're making her do all the work?

14:02Yeah, kind of.

14:04I mean, she, she nailed it.

14:05I was thinking the same thing.

14:07The, the chunkier D,

14:09I would maybe make a salsa,

14:11like a together salsa with it,

14:12because you want that chunkier,

14:13chunkier 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.

14:24This one I, I found,

14:27I don't know.

14:27It, it tastes like stewed tomato sauce,

14:29which 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,

14:37which was actually A, the Cento.

14:39Now 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 the American tomatoes.

14:52So if you want a really smooth sauce,

14:54Cento, besides having a wonderful flavor,

14:57will get you there much faster.

14:59Let's go to B.

15:00Okay.

15:01So B is the red gold.

15:02This was actually the runner up.

15:04Now I will say tomatoes will change, right?

15:06It's a crop.

15:07And so you, this was our best buy.

15:09It was second place.

15:10This is an American tomato, the red gold.

15:12So you both were less enthusiastic about the red gold here.

15:16C is the Hunt's San Marzano style.

15:20So this is a tomato.

15:21It's from California.

15:22It's not from Italy.

15:24Of the American San Marzano style,

15:27this was the one that we felt like was the closest to the 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.

15:39And 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 and it's a sort of traditional,

15:49what we would think of as an American canned tomato.

15:53So really interesting.

15:55I love that you both liked A.

15:57You know, you're validating that.

15:59Now, the bad news is those San Marzano tomatoes are probably two bucks more a can.

16:03Right.

16:04Okay.

16:05Yeah.

16:06So, well, it costs money to get a can of tomatoes from Italy to Boston.

16:10That is true.

16:11That is true.

16:11But interesting that if we really think about how to taste these differently,

16:17we came up with different results.

16:19I also love that you can't make a wrong choice.

16:20They're all recommended.

16:21Yeah.

16:22That is good news.

16:23And so, you know, if you see something on sale or they don't have the brand,

16:27this is a case where you won't make a mistake at the supermarket.

16:29Some people refer to mushrooms as superfoods.

16:39They're full of nutrients, sure, but they're also full of flavor.

16:43And 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 the wizard L.

16:51That's right.

16:52And what better way to achieve that earthy, savory profile than by using three mushrooms?

16:59Oh, triple mushroom for it.

17:00Oh, yeah.

17:01Oh, yeah.

17:02And we're going to start by making a crispy mushroom,

17:05which is going to add a little flair to our pasta dish.

17:07Love it.

17:08And we're using our first star mushroom, the maitake.

17:13I love these.

17:13Also 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.

17:22I kind of try to take out like that big bone piece, but to keep the good leaves, right, and 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, so our oil is shimmering.

17:40It's time to put the mushrooms in.

17:41Great.

17:41So 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.

17:53Follow me over here to my special project called Making Duxelles.

17:58Oh, gorgeous.

18:00Yes, it's a French preparation of mushrooms, but we're also going to start with our second mushroom.

18:05Okay.

18:05This is a dried porcini mushroom, and 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 to get the porcini dust off.

18:16Right.

18:16Right?

18:16And I have about a quarter of an ounce here.

18:18I'm just going to add that to the food processor.

18:20I have one shallot.

18:24And three cloves of garlic.

18:26Nice.

18:28And I'm going to process it for about 10 to 15 seconds.

18:30That looks good, and 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.

18:47Okay.

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.

18:58Our third and final mushroom.

19:02This is a pound of white mushrooms.

19:05Mm-hmm.

19:05And we're just going to go right into the food processor here.

19:07Yeah, they are the workhorse, I think, of the mushroom world.

19:11They are.

19:11And I think the most adaptable.

19:12These mushrooms can actually take on any flavor.

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.

19:24All right.

19:26So it's been nine minutes, and these look beautiful.

19:29They look fantastic.

19:30All right.

19:31I'm going to turn the heat off, and it just needs a little salt and pepper to taste.

19:35Okay.

19:36I'm going to get them out of the pan.

19:41So I'm going to put this back on medium heat and add two tablespoons of butter.

19:46All right.

19:49Butter's foaming.

19:50That's what we need.

19:51And it's time to go in with our duxelle.

19:55Mmm.

19:57Duxelle cooking is one of the most heavenly aromas in the world.

20:01The shallot and the mushroom driving off all that moisture.

20:06Gorgeous.

20:07It's like mushroom butter.

20:09It really is.

20:09Right?

20:10Super soft.

20:11Cooks pretty easily.

20:12So 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.

20:21We're not going to stir it too much.

20:23We don't need to bother it.

20:25Maybe a little bit.

20:26Okay.

20:26From time to time.

20:27Just 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.

20:32Okay, I can tell by the look on your face that you know that this duxelle is ready.

20:38So I'm going to take it off the heat.

20:40That smells so good.

20:42It really does.

20:43It really does.

20:43And 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, so I'm going to add a little acidity here by putting in a tablespoon of lemon juice.

20:56That makes sense.

20:58A little bit of pepper, about an eighth of a teaspoon.

21:01Great.

21:01Yeah.

21:02I'm going to give this a good stir.

21:06So I have a pound of campanile pasta going into just this mere five cups of water.

21:12What we're doing is creating a starchy water base.

21:16I'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, and you get four quarts of water.

21:24That's right.

21:25But here we're creating more of a starchy base for our pasta.

21:29So less water, more starch, creamy pasta.

21:33Really smart.

21:33So 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.

21:40Okay.

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.

21:49We 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.

21:57We have a duck cell that's ready.

22:00Go 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.

22:19Yep.

22:20This looks delicious.

22:22Are you ready to eat?

22:22I'm very ready to eat.

22:24Me too.

22:24This looks fantastic.

22:25This is for you.

22:27We'll start light.

22:28We can always go back for me.

22:29I love it.

22:29It'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.

22:55Oh my gosh.

23:04Every bite is a deeper and deeper flavor.

23:09Yes.

23:09This is umami packed.

23:11This is gorgeousness in a bowl.

23:13Well, thank you.

23:14I'd expect nothing less.

23:16Anything for you.

23:17Thanks, Elle.

23:17Well, if you want to make this wonderful dish, it starts by sautéing maitake mushrooms for

23:23a crisp topping, create a duxelle by cooking down button mushrooms and dried porcinis, and

23:29boil the pasta in just five cups of water, and then toss in the mushrooms and pecorino

23:33until 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

23:46and select episodes.

23:47And those are all on our website.

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