Those of us who survived the Covid era have many stories to tell. 

Fortunately or unfortunately, my Covid era kitchen disasters are still not ending. 🤓

Back in 2020, while still exploring the different shapes and sauces of pasta, and the aesthetics of plating this dish, I decided to craft a unique presentation style of showcasing spaghetti in red sauce. I had recently discovered the magic of cherry tomatoes – how they can be used to enhance the flavours of a sauce or even the garnish of a dish.

But cherry tomatoes were not the culprit here, my inability to understand the cooking time of pasta was. 

It took me 3 years of Covid, 15 kgs and a few admonishing videos from The Pasta Queen to realize that pasta should be cooked in lower quantity. That much carbohydrate and cheese can mess up your gut.

No wonder I had inflammation and PCOD!

My self-deprecating humour aside, I decided to prepare half a kilo of spaghetti (🤌🏻) in a huge pan in a one-pot-meal method. I added the puréed tomatoes to this gigantic Harry Potter styled cauldron and added dried spaghetti. I thought I was saving gas as well as energy by cooking everything together. 

The fact is that spaghetti can be cooked in a one-pot way. The issue is that you do not cook half a kilo of it in a cauldron, as if you are expecting a witches’ congregation. 

The bigger issue is that a chunky tomato sauce will not boil half a kilo of spaghetti the way water boils it.

The biggest issue is that the cook should know or even judge when to stop the flame instead of letting the pasta overcook. Even if there was a congregation of witches happening, not all of them will be crones and be devoid of their 32. 🤣

So what I got was a cauldron full of spicy spaghetti arrabiata that was soggy to the core. But I thought “whatever” and asked my dear sister to plate in a circular nest form. She retorted that the pasta looked horrible and she would only create those roundels if she was not expected to eat even a strand of that spaghetti. 

I had to agree. I topped the nests of spaghetti with raw cherry tomatoes. I thought the picture will be aesthetic. But you can clearly see the overdone version. 

It was a harrowing experience finishing that cauldron, alone, in one go too. My mom was concerned that I am having the whole day’s meal in breakfast only. I rebuffed her concern saying that my metabolism is amazing and this over-eating will not harm me, considering the over eating that happens during tasting invitations.

But I had clearly forgotten that I had turned 30 a year back and I was neither exercising nor skipping meals when I over-ate. No wonder so many health issues ensued. 🙈