This Phased Out '90s Ingredient is Actually the Key to a Quick Weeknight Dinner

When is the last time you ordered angel hair pasta in a restaurant or cooked some at home? Maybe you remember it as a restaurant menu favorite in the '90s when it was part of the low-carb craze and other food fads. It was the pasta darling of trendy restaurants, cookbooks, and diet plans.

Angel hair pasta quickly became known as a dish served with a simple sauce of olive oil, chopped tomatoes, and basil, on menus called angel hair pomodoro in the '90s. The thin strands of pasta, also known as capellini, or "fine hair," was also featured in "nest" form, served with a light mix of ingredients including lemon, capers, chopped vegetables, along with shaved slivers of cheese, chicken, or shrimp.

And then it was gone.

It eventually fell out of favor and got a bad rap as being as "out-of-date" as the ubiquitous sun-dried tomato that also had its time in the spotlight.

A recent New York Times piece by food writer Eric Kim had him confessing his admiration for angel hair to his Twitter followers:

"My deepest, darkest secret is that I like angel hair pasta. It's good, ok! Just stop overcooking it!"

In a recent conversation, he says, "I think I like it because it reminds me of certain Korean noodles, like somyeon (or sōmen). Also, my cousins and I used to eat at Macaroni Grill on the weekends, and many of the dishes came with angel hair. That's where I really fell in love with that shape."

"It's sort of bouncy and soft, and easy to swallow (my favorite kind of food, the kind that barely resists your teeth). I also love the way it sops up saucy things, like chicken Parm, piccata, Marsala — and in the case of this pasta recipe, a bacon-y vermouth and onion sauce. I think it's terribly underrated. The key is to undercook it."

How to Cook Angel Hair Pasta

Overcooking this pasta is why many people don't remember this '90s favorite fondly. Too many gummy versions of this pasta did it no favors. Angel hair pasta has a very short cooking time of just a few minutes.

This is the very reason why it can be the perfect ingredient for pulling together a quick weeknight meal. It cooks in less than half the time of a pot of spaghetti or linguine. Take advantage of the fast cooking time! Treat it like fresh pasta and it can sing.

The pasta cooks in about three minutes depending on the brand of pasta. When it's done, toss immediately with the ingredients of a no-cook sauce, and dinner is done. Think of cooking angel hair like you would if you were using fresh pasta in a recipe and let it only spend a brief period of time in the boiling water.

Rediscover the cooking and dining pleasure of angel hair pasta for dinner tonight.

Try these favorite recipes:

• Broccoli Garlic Angel Hair Pasta
• Angel Chicken Pasta
• Shrimp Scampi with Angel Hair Pasta
• More Angel Hair Pasta Recipes