John Gaughan wrote:

> I tried whole wheat pasta the other day. My wife and I both think it
> tastes good, but it does not hold sauce well. Most likely this is due to
> the fact that it has less starch, which helps bond sauce to the pasta.
>
> Is this true of all whole wheat pasta? What brands do you guys
> recommend? Any cooking tips, should I cook it differently than normal
> pasta? Normally I boil it until al dente, rinse in hot water, and toss
> in olive oil.

Talking about one pound of pasta. Boil, drain, DON'T RINSE, toss with
about 2 tablespoons butter so it doesn't stick together (drop the
butter into the pot you cooked the pasta in; it'll still be warm
enough to melt the butter quickly). Sauce at service on the plates.
That way, the rest of the pasta (if any) can be used for other dishes
with no regard for the sauce used for the first presentation.

Butter will leave a surface better able to accept and hold sauce than
oil will. Rinsing removes the surface starch that would
(ever-so-slightly) thicken sauce that touches the pasta. 20% of butter
is water and that helps retain the surface starch.

Pastorio