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Do you want to make perfect pasta like an Italian? We’re sharing six tips that we’ve learned over the years from our Italian friends on how to make the best pasta.
- Start with good pasta. When using dried pasta, we recommend using pasta that is made with bronze dies and is dried at a low temperature. This is one of our favorite pasta brands.
- Start with a large pot of water. You want to make sure you have plenty of water so that the water does not drop in temperature when you add the pasta. Don’t skimp and use a small pot for a full pound of pasta.
- Salt your water. You’ll want the water taste like the ocean (salt and taste the water before you put it on the stove to boil). We typically use this salt for our pasta water.
- Cook your pasta al dente. Al dente literally means “to the tooth.” You want it to have some firmness to it. Typically the rule is to cook it 1-2 minutes less than the package instructs.
- Choose the right pasta shape for the sauce. A great resource is The Geometry of Pasta. Some of our favorite sauce recipes include Mamma Agata’s Pomodoro (tomato) Sauce, Anchovy and Caper Sauce, Lemon Cream Sauce, and Burro Fuso (butter sauce).
- Save your pasta water. To finish your pasta, add a splash of the starchy pasta water to the sauce to thicken it slightly and help the sauce stick to the pasta.
Get all of our favorite Italian pasta recipes here.