Why you shouldn't rinse spaghetti before baking it
Both spaghetti and pasta gratins are favorites of home cooks because of their ease and ability to satisfy many at once.
When baking spaghetti, a common mistake is rinsing the pasta before adding it to the dish. Simply drain it. The starch from the cooking water should remain in the spaghetti: it helps thicken the sauce, blending it with the pasta so it clings to each bite, resulting in a thicker, smoother texture.
For a successful gratin, the pasta should not be overcooked. It should remain slightly al dente, so that it continues to cook in the sauce and absorbs its flavor without becoming too soft.
The sauce doesn't have to be just tomato-based either. Ree Drummond, for example, combines several different sauces to enhance her baked spaghetti, including pesto.
The additional ingredients allow for considerable freedom. The casserole can be thought of as a reinvented lasagna, with sun-dried tomatoes, grilled eggplant, spicy sausage, or a drizzle of sriracha. Seasonal ingredients, such as root vegetables or zucchini, also work well in this dish.
