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This is mostly a vent. I love pasta dishes with a creamy or cheesy sauce (creamy AND cheesy is best!) But don't you hate when you have leftovers and heat them up, and now the sauce is gone?!?! Where did it go???
Now I just have pasta that appears all oily. Sure the flavors of the spices are still there. But the creaminess and cheesiness are gone!
It's not just Italian dishes. It happens with homemade mac and cheese too. It doesn't just happen from microwaving, but also when heating up in the oven.
I'm not really a cook, and I'm certainly not a chemist. There must be some explanation as to why this atrocity, this abomination of nature, occurs. The milk products separate into oil and something else, or just turn into oil, etc, etc. who knows? The laws of nature should not allow this to happen! I'm sure God, who designed the laws of nature/chemistry/cooking wants us all to have ongoing cheesy creamy goodness with our leftovers and not waste them, or be gluttonous and eat everything the first night! Right?
Does anyone know how to prevent this from happening? I made a delicious creamy cheesy pasta dish last night from a recipe that was being passed around on facebook, and I have leftovers. I just reheated some for my lunch and was very disappointed (oily sweaty penne with spices on it which tasted fine, but not cheesy). I have more leftovers to heat up for dinner. How can I heat it up and not lose the sauce?
Things change when they reheat. For some soups and stews they are much better the second time around. But, the second time isn't always as kind to all foods. Perhaps you could keep the sauce separate from the pasta until serving and keep them separate in the refrigerator, too? I'm guessing the noodles soak up the available liquids in the sauce leaving the oils behind. Or you could add more cheese when reheating.
Real cheeses tend to separate into their separate components when heated. The only thing you can really do is add a binder to your sauce (like a bechemel or roux) which helps maintain the emulsion which is cheese -- more precisely, the fat and proteins in the cheese. A pasta will tend to pull moisture from your sauce, as well. Adding a little liquid (like a stock) will help revive the sauce a bit. However, cheesy and starchy dishes (mac and cheese, potatoes au gratin, etc.) will be best/creamiest when made fresh.
Low and slow in a sauce pan on the stove. Add a splash of cream. Cover and wait. Might take awhile but if you don't want the mixture to separate its the only way.
You and also reconstitute it with an emulsifier like egg yolk but that seems more of a hassle just reheating left overs.
Adding a little milk (to the creamy pasta) or water before reheating cooked, wet pasta is a good idea because pasta will continue to absorb the moisture in the sauce and "cook", leaving it dry and overcooked.
Last night, I added some half-and-half (I know, fattening, but it was part of the original recipe) and shredded mozzarella and reheated it in a pan on the stove. It definitely made it creamy & cheesy again, but it wasn't as yummy as the first night. So I guess I can never take this kind of leftovers to work for lunch, because all we have here is a microwave, and that's like a magic wand to make the sauce disappear.
But when I have homemade baked macaroni & cheese, and I reheat it in the glass pan, in the oven, the cheese still seems to disappear, or at least separate into its oily components. Since it's not a stove-top meal, I can't see adding cream and cheese to it, since you can't really stir it up, or you'll ruin the crispy top and edges.
Maybe I need to figure out how to just cook individual servings.
Last night, I added some half-and-half (I know, fattening, but it was part of the original recipe) and shredded mozzarella and reheated it in a pan on the stove. It definitely made it creamy & cheesy again, but it wasn't as yummy as the first night. So I guess I can never take this kind of leftovers to work for lunch, because all we have here is a microwave, and that's like a magic wand to make the sauce disappear.
But when I have homemade baked macaroni & cheese, and I reheat it in the glass pan, in the oven, the cheese still seems to disappear, or at least separate into its oily components. Since it's not a stove-top meal, I can't see adding cream and cheese to it, since you can't really stir it up, or you'll ruin the crispy top and edges.
Maybe I need to figure out how to just cook individual servings.
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It doesn't just happen from microwaving, but also when heating up in the oven. 
