I’m looking to expand my menu with some pasta dishes. I have good recipes, but I’m looking for some help in executing them. I’d like to add spaghetti/pasta and lasagna, below are my questions.
Do you make a pasta sauce and freeze it? (I make pizza sauce already and go through it fast enough not to freeze it)
If so, how long is it good for frozen?
Noodles, do you par boil them? How long are they good for in the refrigerator?
Lasagna, do you boil the noodles or use raw while assembling?
How long is it good for in the refrigerator?
Do you freeze it in large quantities and thaw for service?
What is your process for re-heating? I have a deck oven.
I know it’s a lot of questions in one thread but any help would be appreciated. Processes are one thing that I have had trouble finding on the internet. I do not have much experience working in a restaurant, everything I know I have researched on the web.
I freeze my pasta sauce in containers, They have kept as long as a month in the freezer. All my pasta noodles I par boil them Spaghetti, Fettuccine, Lasagna. As far as keeping my health dept will not let me keep noodles or pasta over 1 week, which is not a problem since I just cook small batches of noodles every 2-3 days. As far as freezing I sell a Family size Lasagna which I sometimes keep 1 or 2 in the freezer, however it takes 24 hours for it to thaw out and able to cook. For my lasagna I use 2 different size of rarebits. We make them 2x a week and I just cook in my deck oven for about 10 minutes, Spaghetti & Fettuccine I have a pot of almost boiling water & I just put the pasta in the water for 3 minutes warm the plate on the oven and I am ready to go
I appreciate the help! That was along with what I was thinking about storage. Do you assemble individual lasagnas or bake a sheet and cut into portion sizes? After lasagna thaws, it only takes 10 or so minuets in the deck oven?
Again, thanks for the response, I have had these questions for months and finally decided to post here to get answer. I wish I did this a long time ago!
We make ours in individual dishes. We only make enough to get us 3-4 days max. Yes after it thaws it cooks 10 minutes in my deck oven. However we usually do not freeze the individual lasagna but we have in the past with no problem.
Ok we have pasta, and every place I worked at(all pizza places) did pasta and lasagna same way
Pasta: boil enough pasta for 3 days cook al dente. Drain and run cold water over it. Put the pasta in a cambro and submerge with cold water. After a few hours you can portion the pasta. We give a 18oz of pasta per portion I use these https://www.webstaurantstore.com/choice-38-oz-white-8-3-4-x-6-1-4-x-2-rectangular-microwavable-heavyweight-container-with-lid-case/129MCS38W.html
We fill them with water and into the fridge until ordered.
When ordered we drain the water add some whirl, then microwave for 2:30 add meatballs, sausage, chicken then sauce(alfredo or marinara) serve with garlic bread.
Pasta has huge margins but isnt nearly as popular as pizza.
Tbh id love to sell a ton of pizza and no pasta.
Keep in mind most pasta houses would balk at the way we do pasta but it works well for us and its streamlined. This style is meant for menu expansion- not meant to win you awards for go to pasta place
Lasagna: buy noodles-dont cook the noodles, layer them in a sheet pan. Add sauce,ricotta,cheese,meat if using(we use crumbled meatballs and pepperoni in ours) keep stacking until finished cover with sauce, then cover the pan with aluminuum foil. Put into the oven for 40 mins- take it out uncover it and add a layer of pizza cheese. Back into the oven until cheese browns a little all over.
Take out and let cool. Remove from pan then cut in desired portions. Saran wrap each piece leave out 2-3 days worth. Freeze the rest. Slack out what you need to keep you ahead of the rush.
When ordered microwave for 2 mins put it into an aluminium container cover with more sauce and cheese then run through the oven until cheese browns and bubbly.
While on the subject of pasta, is there anyway to get rid of the starch in the pasta water while par boiling several batches of fettuccine and spaghetti? Any more than 4 batches and the water is loaded with starch and the noodles are really sticky. We dump the water and start with a new pot and have to wait for it to boil.