02/11/2025
PASTA WAITS FOR NO-ONE. COOK PASTA LIKE YOUR DOLCE VITA NONNA!
THE SAUCEPAN:
Use a large deep saucepan so the pasta has plenty of room to move around, otherwise you risk it becoming claggy.
Bring the water to a lively boil (I usually boil water in the kettle to speed up the process). This rolling boiling water is key to keeping the pasta moving and preventing it from sticking, which is important because the pasta releases starch while it cooks.
SALTING:
When the water is boiling, season it generously with salt. The amount depends on how much water you're boiling. The classic rule of thumb is to make it as salty as the sea.
No, It's not too much. Some to it will go into seasoning the pasta while most of it will go down the drain.
Salting well is vital because pasta will taste dull and lifeless if cooked in under-salted water. Note that if you're serving the pasta with a salty sauce (eg anchovies), use a little less.
TIP: Add salt to already boiling water. Adding it before it comes to the boil takes much longer to come to the boil. ALWAYS wait until the water returns to a lively boil before adding the pasta. OIL NOT REQUIRED to keep the pasta separated.
AL DENTE:
Overcooking pasta is pretty much an unforgivable sin so listen up!
Pasta should be cooked until "al dente" which is "firm to the bite", unless your recipe needs your pasta to bubble away in the sauce, then slightly undercook it.
How do you tell if it's al dente? Well for one thing, don't do that old UK and University students' trick of flinging a piece of spaghetti onto the wall and if it sticks, it's cooked. If it sticks, then it's actually overcooked.
I start checking it a couple of minutes before the stated cooking time on the packet. Just pull out a piece of pasta out of the boiling water, bite into it and look at the inside of the pasta. If it's white, it's still underdone. Keep checking every 30 seconds or so. As soon as that white disappears, it's ready!
I personally like to cook it till slightly underdone because I drop into the sauce to finish cooking it as well as infusing it with the sauce.
PASTA COOKING WATER:
Once cooked, drain the pasta immediately in a colander, reserving 1-2 cups of the cooking water. Pasta water is liquid gold, emulsifying your sauce, making it luxurious and creamy. This is the secret to velvety creamy sauces without using cream.
If only cooking for 1-2 people I simply grab my tongs or pasta scooper and drag it straight out of the saucepan and into the sauce, adding ladle spoons of pasta water as needed and stir well.
Your want your sauce to be loose and relaxed because it will continue thickening as you put it on the table, especially with the addition of cheese.
FINISHING AND SERVING YOUR PASTA:
Having the sauce ready when your pasta is done is another vital step because... pasta waits for no-one!
There should be no pauses in sequence of draining, saucing, serving and eating. If it's allowed to sit it will turn into a clump.
Eat immediately after being dished up.
TIP: You should never serve sauce just plonked on top of cooked pasta. Toss your pasta well through your sauce and allow it all to amalgamate beautifully instead of just two separate elements.
BUON APPETITO and remember your "scarpetta" - chunks of crusty bread to mop up the last of drips of sauce off your plate. Also, salad is served after the pasta course, not with it.
EXTRA DOLCE VITA NONNA TIPS:
Depending on the sauce and your own personal taste, use Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano on your pasta (with the exception of seafood). Traditionally, cheese doesn’t go on seafood pasta dishes.
My particular preference on pasta is Pecorino Romano which is used more commonly from central Italy to the south. It’s made with sheep’s milk and has a bitey, robust flavour.
Try cooking pasta this way and let me know how you go!
