I was wondering about that, too.
Anyhow, as to reheating alfredo sauce, if you do it slowly, add a bit of milk, and use an immersion blender or whisk to bring things together when it looks like it’s breaking, it should work out okay. It’s true–it won’t be like the first time around, but it should still be acceptable.
Hmm, looks like we were using the term “1# dried pasta” differently. I read that as the pre-cooked weight, but it sound like you meant the cooked weight. I was actually wondering how 2 cups of sauce would be enough for that once it was cooked, because 1 pound of dry pasta becomes multiple pounds of cooked pasta :smack:
Anyway, it’s those multiple pounds of cooked pasta that I’m then dividing into 3- to 5-ounce portions, and those portions are plenty big, especially after I’ve added meat and vegetables. The end results look like this photo “montage” I took back in June:
http://www.mister-rik.com/hosted/fettuccine.jpg
Though that was before I got my food scale, so I had just eyeballed how much pasta to cook. It was after those photos that I started cooking the whole package at once and portioning it out.
So anyway, the terminology mixup had me thinking that it would be hard to make 1/15th or 1/20th of that recipe “to order”, since such a small quantity, made in a skillet, would basically scorch instead of boil, not to mention be kind of hard to stir.
No, I think we’re talking the same thing. To me, 1# dried pasta makes 4-6 portions. I routinely cook 1/2 pound for a dinner for Mr. Athena and I, and that almost always makes 3 servings (we eat 2, put one in the fridge for leftovers). And these are small servings - I really limit the amount of pasta I eat nowadays.
Back when I was in my 20s, had a larger appetite, and was dating a construction worker, we’d get 3 servings out of 1 pound dried.
I don’t see how you can get 15-20 servings out of one pound of dried pasta. Maybe 8-10 very small servings at the most.
Huh. Guess I’ll have to weigh the cooked pasta next time I cook a pound. 20 portions may be overstating it. The portion sizes I’m using seem to be plenty for me, after other ingredients are added to the dish - usually 3-4 ounces of meat, a couple mushrooms (sliced), 1/4 of an onion and some bell pepper (julienned), and topped with grated cheese at the end. If I was just eating pasta in sauce I’d probably use a bigger portion.
For me, anyway, pasta has always been one of those foods where I don’t realize how much I have on my plate until I try to eat it all, and next thing I know I feel uncomfortably stuffed. And unfortunately, if I really like it I feel compelled to eat it all. Hence my weighing out the portions ahead of time. I’m in my mid-40s and just can’t comfortably eat as much as I used to 
Typically, a serving size of pasta is about 2 oz uncooked, so eight servings to a pound. I eat double that, usually, but when I’m eating pasta, I don’t usually have an additional course or anything like that. Left unsupervised with no regards for my diet, I could finish a pound of pasta in a single session.
As for sauce, food in Italy is typically sauced significantly lighter than Italian-American food. Marcella Hazan’s recipe has 1 cup whipping cream, 2 TB butter, and 2/3 cup Parmesan to 1 1/4 pounds uncooked (although fresh homemade) fettucine. For example, the saucing here of a bolognese pasta seems about right to me, if not slightly heavy.
I know 2 oz is what the package lists as one portion, but 2 oz uncooked is a VERY small portion for most people. I have to limit my carbs, so I try to stick to the 2 oz portion , and with non-bulky sauces like Pesto or Alfredo, it’s not very much. I’ll usually go with a side salad or veggy when we do sauces like that, otherwise I feel like I’m eating a child’s size portion. But 2 ounces of pasta is 40 carbs - given that I try to stay under 60 for an entire meal, that’s a large chunk of my carb intake.
It’s better with bulkier sauces - marinara with bell peppers and eggplant and sausage, or Puttanesca, so I tend to go with these more often.
A typical restaurant portion of pasta is WAY more than 2 ounces dry. I’d guess more like 6-8 ounces. Looking at Applebee’s, for example, their pasta entrees range from 80 to 128 carbs per portion. They don’t break out the pasta from the sauce, but I’m guessing the bulk of that is the pasta because it’s cheap.
No doubt. I’m assuming that the package is assuming that the pasta is part of a larger meal, not the focus, which is why I mention I eat at least twice that. Restaurant portions are just ridiculous. 8 oz. sounds like a reasonable guess to me.