Finishing pasta in the sauce
Pull the pasta 1 to 2 minutes before the package time. Add it to the sauce with a splash of starchy pasta water and finish cooking together. The pasta drinks up some sauce, and the starch helps oil and water mix into a glossy coat.
Salt the water and save a cup
Salt the pasta water until it tastes like mild broth, about 10 grams per liter. It seasons the pasta, and it salts the sauce when you add some, so go lighter on salt in the sauce. Scoop out a cup before draining.
Test yourself
Questions from the interactive lesson, with the answer and the why.
Your sauce is thin and slipping off the pasta. Why add a splash of pasta water?
Its starch binds oil and water together. Starch acts as an emulsifier and a light thickener.
True or false: Rinsing cooked pasta under cold water is a good idea before tossing it in a hot sauce.
False. Rinsing removes the starch that helps sauce cling, so rinse only pasta for a cold salad.
What went wrong? You drain pasta, rinse it, and spoon sauce on top. The sauce slides off to the bottom of the plate.
Rinsing washed off the starch the sauce grips. Skip the rinse and toss the pasta in the sauce.
Fill the blank: Starch in pasta water keeps the oil and water in a sauce blended as a smooth ___.
Starch in pasta water keeps the oil and water in a sauce blended as a smooth emulsion. Starch keeps fat and water blended instead of separate.
Your pasta sauce looks greasy and separated in the pan. What fixes it?
Hot pasta water, tossed over the heat. Starch, heat and tossing bring the fat and water back together.
