Keep Leftover Pasta Water To Amp Up Homemade Sauce

If you grew up in an Italian household, you may already know many of the rules when it comes to making truly good pasta. The first: always salt your pasta water, as step that enhances the flavor of the noodles and gives the final dish a better bite. The second is to save the precious, salted liquid left behind in the pot to make a deliciously silky pasta sauce. For those who didn't have an Italian nonna to instill this rule into them, just take it from Antonio Morichini, chef and owner of Via Vai in New York City.

Morichini shared that this step can make a major difference. "The leftover pasta water should be added to the sauce!" he urged. "When amalgamating the pasta with the sauce in the pan, add a little bit of starchy pasta water to thicken the sauce." So if you've been making the mistake of rinsing your pasta before adding your sauce, think again. The reason Morichini and so many professional chefs swear by this technique is because of the relatively high starch content of that pasta water. The starch allows the sauce to thicken and coat each noodle to perfection without letting things get too watery (assuming you watch just how much you add to the pot). 

Why not use that starchy pasta water for other recipes that might need thickening? While there are many creative uses for leftover pasta water, deploying it in soups and stews can make a major textural difference that gives the result a richer and silkier mouthfeel. You may have noticed this already if you've ever added uncooked pasta into your simmering pot of soup. The noodles leach that starchiness into the soup and the liquid turns all the thicker and more substantial.

If you've already dumped your pasta water and are shaking your head in despair, don't give up hope, as there is a starchy solution likely waiting in your pantry. The easiest fix for accidentally dumped pasta water is to make a mixture of cornstarch and water. This may already sound familiar, as a slurry of cornstarch and cold water is a common thickening agent. Use a ratio of 1 cup of cold water to ¼ teaspoon of cornstarch as a pasta water replacement in homemade sauces, soups, and stews.