How many people can one pound of pasta feed as a main course? I ask, because I subscribe to Cook's Illustrated magazine, and they had a segment on pasta. They claimed that one pound of pasta can feed "4 to 6 people as a main course". Now, I probably eat a little more than average. However, I feel I can comfortably eat more than half a pound of pasta myself. My wife Greta, who is a fairly small woman, eats less than me, but still around half a pound of pasta.
So why would Cook's Illustrated, a magazine that is pretty well informed, have such a bizarre estimate? I figure it is because they really are talking sort of a dinner-party style entree. People have eaten soup, maybe some bread. By the time the main course comes around, perhaps they aren't very hungry. And of course they have to save some room for dessert. Oh isn't that typical of that whole Vermont-style living that the editor of that magazine loves so much.
Really, though, I feel that this is deceptive. I don't normally have courses. Who has time to make more than one meal, or clean more than one set of dishes? So I feel that one pound of pasta can feed 2 people as a main (and only) course normally. Less, of course, if there is more food. But that case is unusual and not really even worth talking about.
Posted by ahyatt at April 2, 2006 06:58 PM