You Have to Make These Air Fried Caramel Pasta Chips
Pasta can and should be a dessert. There are several ways to turn this popular carbohydrate into a terrific sweet, but you can also turn a pot of rigatoni into a four-ingredient quick snack. It’s a perfect afternoon meal, perfect for watching TV (turn on the subtitles to avoid crackling). Turn on the fryers and make these crunchy cinnamon chips for the next episode of The Mandalorian.
Deep-fryed pasta chips have the texture of tender breadsticks, but the lightness of popcorn. Italian pasta is usually made with durum wheat flour, water, and possibly eggs. When you buy dry pasta from the grocery store, it has no water at all, making it the affordable, shelf-stable carbohydrate we love. When you boil pasta, water seeps into the dough and the starch swells. At this point, you can enjoy the noodles as is. Or be a wild child and sprinkle them with butter, cinnamon and sugar before air frying.
Airfryer provides strong heat. The water in pasta dough evaporates quickly, leaving behind air bubbles and a flaky, light, crumbling crunch. It’s all too easy to turn down a plate of those crunchy cereals, especially while watching Pedro Pascal travel the universe. (I’m pretty sure he’ll love them.) You can fry pasta in any shape, but I’d recommend something squat and firm, like rigatoni, ziti, penne, radiiri, or fusilli. Thin pasta burns easily in a deep fryer.
This is the way (to do it). Boil a portion of the pasta as usual. Salt and/or sweeten boiling water. Turn off heat. Empty the pasta from the pot to drain and put the pot back on the still-warm burner. Add some butter to the pan and let it melt. Add the pasta back to the pot and toss with the butter to coat well. In a small bowl, mix some cinnamon, sugar and a pinch of salt. Remove the pasta with a slotted spoon or fork and add it to the cinnamon mixture. Leave excess oil behind. Stir pasta until well coated in cinnamon sugar. Place the noodles in a single layer in the fryer. Set it to 350°F on the “air fry” setting and let it burst for five minutes. If the pasta is browned to your liking, take it out, but you can leave it for another minute or two if you like deep browning .
The icing caramelizes, so be very careful when transferring the pasta to a cooling rack or parchment paper. I use metal tongs for this. The pasta may seem pliable when hot out of the fryer, but it will immediately become crispy after cooling for five to ten minutes. You can make these little crunchy bites from leftover pasta, and you’re not limited to cinnamon and sugar. Try a coating of cocoa powder-sugar or cardamom-sugar. If your pasta is hollow, try filling it with jam, nutella, peanut butter, or dulce de leche. I like to eat them during the day, but they can keep for several days in an airtight container at room temperature.
Pasta chips with cinnamon and sugar
Ingredients:
- 20-30 rigatoni, penne or other squat pasta
- 1 teaspoon butter
- 2 tablespoons of sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- A pinch of salt
- Nutella, dulce de leche or other toppings (optional)
Boil pasta according to package instructions. Set the fryer to 350°F on sauté mode.
In a small bowl, mix cinnamon, sugar and salt. Drain the paste. Return the saucepan to the warm stove and melt the butter. Toss drained pasta in oil until well coated. Add pasta to sugar mixture, reserving excess oil, and stir until well coated.
Place the noodles in the fryer in a single layer. Bake 5-7 minutes. Refrigerate and serve.