For those treating themselves to pasta this January, James Martin says there is a “crucial” way that makes it taste more flavoursome. Sharing tips he’s received from Italian chefs over the years, the 53-year-old insisted some pasta lovers have been missing a trick during cooking.
Speaking on his Saturday Morning show as he prepared a mouth-watering lobster pasta, James began: “Now, my Italian friends have told me some decent things over the years, one of which is how to cook pasta.
“You don’t put oil in pasta water, the key to this is salted, boiling water.”
He went on to joke: “They said, ‘It should taste of the sea’, clearly they’ve never been to Whitby and stuck their tongue in the water’.”
Adding tagliatelle to the pan, James reminded viewers that fresh pasta doesn’t take as long as dry pasta to cook.
“Fresh pasta, like this, is only going to take two to three minutes to cook,” he shared. “You just boil it all up.”
For dry pasta, cooking time depends on the type and thickness, but on average it takes about 12 minutes of boiling.
Continuing with his dish, James added: “Now the second thing the Italians chef have told me is, finish the pasta in the sauce, it’s really crucial not to just pile the pasta and then put the sauce on top.”
By adding the pasta to the sauce, the chef said: “It gets all those nice flavours.”
Once this method is performed, the chef then advises adding some fresh basil, a bit of salt, black pepper and parmesan cheese on top for an even better taste.
Meanwhile, Italian chef Nima Safaei has claimed that a one-minute cooking method makes all the difference to a pasta’s outcome.
Whether you’re a fan of carbonara or bolognese, the restaurateur insists that letting the pasta rest in its sauce is key.
“Remember to rest your pasta for one minute before serving, just like you rest a steak,” he shared.
“Letting it sit in the sauce off the heat allows the flavours to settle and the texture to become perfectly supple.”
Sharing further advice he believes fellow Italians would disapprove of, the chef says incorporating soy sauce into ragú can transform its flavour from “fine to outstanding.”
“Adding soy sauce to a ragú gives it a deep, rich umami taste you can’t easily replicate with any other ingredient,” he shared.
“Yes, the entire population of Italy may hate me for it, but there’s something about the sweet yet tangy profile soy sauce adds that can turn any ragú from fine to outstanding.”
James Martin’s Saturday Morning airs weekly from 9.30am on ITV and ITVX.
Dining and Cooking