Chefs reveal the biggest mistakes most people make while cooking pasta

cooking pasta

Rinsing the pasta

“One of the most commonly asked questions is ‘Do I rinse the pasta after I remove it from the water?'” says Carmine DiGiovanni, who is the chef at Aunt Jake’s in New York. He explains that it’s a big mistake to rinse your pasta, because the starch that’s left behind on the pasta after boiling it actually adds a smooth, velvet-like richness to the sauce once they’re combined.

Cooking method

One of the most important things when you’re cooking pasta is making sure it’s perfectly ‘al dente’. This is Italian for “to the teeth”, but it means “cooked to be firm to the bite.” Celebrity chef Devin Alexander says: “The biggest mistake anyone can make is serving up what I call ‘elementary school pasta.” Some people have gotten used to eating pasta that’s overcooked because it’s served to them at schools or organisations. They serve it like that because overcooking it can create more volume, meaning the pasta gets bigger. It’s much better to not do this, though, because pasta tastes a lot better when there’s still a little bit of a bite.

Cooking sauce along with the pasta

Are you in the habit of mixing through the sauce as soon as the pasta is done cooking? That’s a mistake. Chef Salvatore Marcello says: “Your pasta should be drained when it’s al dente so that you can finish cooking it in the sauce without it overcooking.” Next, simmer your pasta in the sauce for about 30 seconds and then remove it from the heat.

Read more: Rice in a restaurant tastes much better than rice at home and it has everything to do with water

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Source: Insider | Images: Pixabay

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