Better Home Cooking Basics: #15 Reserve 1 Cup of Pasta Water Before Pouring it Down the Drain

Right before you drain your cooked pasta reserve at least a cup of the salty starchy water. I like to stick a glass measuring cup or a coffee mug into the pot to pull it out.  Then there are at least three ways I use this reserved water for are:

1. To keep pasta from sticking together before serving add some of the water to it so that it doesn’t stick together in the serving bowl.
2. To perfect your sauce consistency by adding some of the reserved water to a thick sauce that you want to thin out by adding a little bit at a time to the sauce & cooking over low heat.
3. To keep leftover pasta from sticking together add some of the water to your the container of pasta that you’re storing it in. When you’re ready to eat the leftovers they’ll look like individual noodles rather than one big mass.  You can microwave the pasta in the water & it won’t get dried out & sticky.

Check out more better home cooking basic tips here.