I’d heard of this technique for prepping lasagna noodles. But I’d never tried it. Frankly, I thought that just soaking lasagne noodles in hot water, rather than boiling them, was a fringe ‘custom’. A fad, even. Then I came upon a whole host of soaking supporters…
@chefmikehard. #chefmikehard #lasagna #pasta #recipe ♬ original sound – Mike Harden 🔸 Chicago
It all started with a Reddit post back in 2020. And it’s grown into a genuine trend/phenomenon with a massive following. Just soak your lasagna noodles rather than boiling them fist – and enjoy not only unprecedented convenience, but a more-elegant, satisfying Lasagna Experience…
Who’d uh thunk?
Forget par-cooked instant lasagne noodles. Sure, they save time and fuss. But real pasta aficionados say they can tell the difference between them and the conventional dry pasta. Not to mention how inferior all dried pastas are considered to fresh-made pasta.
Just soak your lasagna noodles for 30 to 40 minutes in hot tap water before assembling your casser-ole. They’ll be much easier to handle than hot slippery boiled noodles, and less prone to breaking and tearing. They’ll cook the rest of the way during baking and come out perfectly al dente. No more mushy-noodled, hard-to-serve, falling-apart lasagne!
What’s going on?
There are actually two things going on when you cook pasta. The first is, you are infusing the pasta with water. The second is, you are actually cooking the pasta, consolidating the mixture of eggs and flour into something greater than the simple sum of its parts.
One problem with the conventional process is that boiling the pasta first can be a problematic exer-cise. Most folks don’t actually know how to judge when the pasta is ‘done’ to the proper degree. And most folks also overcook their lasagne noodles.
As we said above, the noodles cook even more more during baking, in the lasagne sauce. And often, the noodles turn out slippery-slimy and mushy, which leads to serving complications and, ultimately, mouth feel disappointment.
Splitting the job
Soaking the noodles rather then boiling them simply splits the job of ‘cooking’ the pasta into its two natural constituent parts. You’re infusing them with water first, but not cooking them. All the actual cooking takes place in the casserole during baking.
My take
This is the only way I’ll go when making lasagne in the future. And I see no reason not to extend the soaking process over all my pasta dishes that call for par-boiling Before prepping them for a casser-ole bake or other secondary cooking application.
Taking a wider view, I recall recently imparting to you a pre-soaking method for rice noodles… This soaking ‘thing’ seems to be one of those universal truths ‘discovered’ at about the same time in widely separated geographical locations!
Just one question… Why didn’t the teach this in culinary school? And regardless of that, why didn’t I learn about it decades ago?
~ Maggie J.