Cooking pasta BARNEY SAYS

THE MYTH BOIL PASTA YOU NEED TO PAN IN THE BIGGEST YOU’VE GOT

Every good cook knows that starchy pasta cooking water is the secret to a silky pasta sauce, right? It’s the game-changer that turns a bit of parmesan and pepper into a sauce that you could swear was made with cream – and if you’re not using it yet, you need to start now. The less water you use the starchier the water will be, so the better it is to marry the pasta with the sauce. If you’re worried about your pasta sticking, don’t be. It just needs to be stirred for the irst ive minutes of cooking – it doesn’t matter how much water you use as long as there’s enough for the pasta to move freely. I ind that about three times the volume of water to pasta is ideal for short shapes. Long pasta, like spaghetti, can be cooked in a wide shallow pan of water.