Pan-frying and Deep-frying Pasta

Uncooked fresh egg pasta, particularly the string shapes, may be pan-fried in hot oil to make a crisp, brown cake to serve with sauce. Another method is to pan-fry cooked pasta in plenty of oil or butter. This ensures that the strands remain separate while the pasta browns—a favorite method for spätzle. Cooked pasta may also be mixed with egg, then pan-fried as a flat pancake. In Italy, filled pasta such as ravioli, and tube shapes like cannelloni are sometimes deep-fried, as in cheese-filled focaccette fritte. It is the Chinese who have provided our most popular fried pastas, in the form of wontons and egg rolls.