Chances are good youre under-seasoning your pasta.
Rachel Johnson/Southern Living
Maybe the idea of salting your pasta water is new to you.
Heres how much salt to add to pasta water to get to yieldperfectly seasoned pastaevery time.
Credit:Rachel Johnson/Southern Living
Do You Have To Salt Pasta Water?
In short, yes.
Even if your sauce is properly seasoned, your dish will taste flat when unseasoned noodles are added.
How Much Salt Should You Use?
Chances are good that youre not using enough salt.
A quick sprinkle is simply insufficient.
(Who wants to eat briny bucatini?)
To settle the debate, we looked to the godmother of Italian cooking in America, Marcella Hazan.
Cook the pasta in 4 to 6 quarts of water.
Iodized table salt should be used for seasoning at the table and not for salting the water.
It will give an off taste to the cooked pasta.
Isn’t That A Lot Of Salt?
After a few times, you should be able to eyeball it.
Thats because when you add salt to the water, it will get dissolved into the liquid.
When Should You Salt The Water?
Hazan recommends adding the salt when the water comes to a boil.
Try these recipes where seasoned pasta makes a big impact.
It’s difficult to fix once cooked.
Or try rinsing the pasta after cooking (which is otherwise not recommended).
No, there is no need to add oil to pasta water.
The noodles will be slick and the sauce won’t adhere to them.
You want pasta water that is briny but not too salty.
