Are you cooking pasta at home? Avoid these common mistakes for excellent results.
When it comes to making the perfect plate of pasta, there are a few mistakes cooks may be making without even realizing it! While placing pasta into boiling water seems easy enough, we can do things to enhance the flavor of delicious Italian pasta further. These four mistakes are most common when cooking pasta; read on to learn how to fix them.
Adding Too Much or Too Little Salt to Pasta Water
You should add salt to your boiling pasta water, but how much? An excellent guideline to follow is for every gallon of water, or four quarts, you should add two to three tablespoons of kosher salt. This salt should be added to the water before the pasta is added, not after.
Adding Salt Before Cooking Fresh Pasta
However, if you are cooking pasta from scratch, you do not need to salt the water. Instead, you should salt the dough, which allows you to maintain better flavor control over your finished product.
Pouring Sauce Over Cooked Pasta Right Away
Many people may be in the habit of cooking pasta and sauce separately and then combining them right before serving. However, this does not allow the pasta to absorb the flavors of the sauce. Instead, chefs recommend cooking dried pasta in its sauce for about six to seven minutes. If you’re cooking fresh pasta, allow approximately three to four minutes to absorb the sauce’s flavors.
Throwing Out the Pasta Water
When you’re done cooking pasta, the leftover water shouldn’t be thrown out right away. Instead, this salty and starchy water can add loads of flavor to any pasta sauce as well as a velvety consistency.
To use the water, you can reserve the water after you’ve drained your pasta. Then, during the final cooking stages, you can add the water by spoonfuls to your sauce. This water helps the sauce bind to the pasta better and can become an excellent thickening agent.
By fixing these little mistakes, cooking pasta can become an even more flavorful and enjoyable experience!
Authentic Italian Cuisine From Giolitti Deli
Giolitti Deli is a full-service Delicatessen in Annapolis, MD, specializing in authentic Italian cuisine. Founded in 1992, we use the freshest ingredients to make time-honed recipes from scratch, with no MSG or preservatives. We believe in real food and offer many healthy options, including vegetarian and vegan menu items. At Giolitti Deli, we make our own sauces, mozzarella, grilled and roasted vegetables, bread, pizza dough, and desserts, and our sandwiches, salads, pasta, pizza, and entrees are made to order. Owner Mary Giolitti has combined her passion for great food and fine wine to offer Annapolis a true taste of Italy!
Team members who also make the business possible include Manager Kathy Hunter, Manager and Catering Director Cheryl Molesky, Head Baker Porfirio Diaz, Chef Alfredo Escobar, and Deli Manager Noe Merino. To contact us, please visit our contact page or give us a call at 410.266.8600. Also, be sure to keep up with us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and our blog!
Tags: cooking pasta, cooking tips, italian food, pasta