Do You Put Pasta Water In Your Sauce?

[Juliebove]

When I was growing up, I was always told to drain my pasta well before putting the sauce on it. Then as an adult, I remember one of my friends telling me that not only did she drain it really well, but rinsed it to get all the starch off. This struck me as odd because pasta is starch.

Then recently on watching cooking shows, I have heard never to rinse your pasta because if you take too much starch off, it will make the sauce not adhere.

Another thing I have seen many cooks do is put a few ladle or big spoonfuls of the pasta cooking water into the sauce, saying that it gives better flavor.

I was curious if this would work with gluten-free pasta because the water it is cooked in always looks so murky afterwards, but I have tried it and it does seem to give better flavor.

[TrillumHunter]

I do add some of the cooking water. It is well seasoned and helps to get a good consistency in the sauce.

I do rinse the heck out of rice pastas. I cannot stand them otherwise. But I don't rinse corn pastas as they don't need it.

[jerseyangel]

I grew up in an Italian family where my grandma cooked pasta (or macaroni, as we called it) on Sundays. She never rinsed it, just drained it. She did use pasta water to thin the sauce a bit if needed, and it usually did since it cooked all morning.

I do the same--even with rice pasta. Even though the directions say to rinse, I can't bring myself to do it. I have used some of the pasta water to loosen up the sauce and it's fine. I don't need to do this all the time, though, since I don't cook my sauce for hours.

I made pasta tonight, as a matter of fact

[psawyer]

Mixed answer here. Macaroni I just drain and then mix into the dish being made. Spaghetti is rinsed before serving, but the sauce is not watered down. A bit of residual water usually finds its way onto the place.

When making lasagna, the cooked noodles are rinsed, but then sit in the colander long enough that the water has all dripped off before they make it into the casserole.

I can't comment on corn pasta. All the ones we use are made from brown rice.

[Juliebove]

I do add some of the cooking water. It is well seasoned and helps to get a good consistency in the sauce.

I do rinse the heck out of rice pastas. I cannot stand them otherwise. But I don't rinse corn pastas as they don't need it.

I don't rinse any of my pasta unless I am making a pasta salad and want it cold.

[Juliebove]

Mixed answer here. Macaroni I just drain and then mix into the dish being made. Spaghetti is rinsed before serving, but the sauce is not watered down. A bit of residual water usually finds its way onto the place.

When making lasagna, the cooked noodles are rinsed, but then sit in the colander long enough that the water has all dripped off before they make it into the casserole.

I can't comment on corn pasta. All the ones we use are made from brown rice.

Okay. Thanks! I usually use rice pasta. Use a quinoa/rice pasta for tuna casserole (I guess I don't put the water into the sauce for that), a quinoa/corn pasta for minestrone and that's about it. I used to buy straight corn pasta. Now I usually get Tinkyada rice pasta.

[MaryJones2]

With a few exceptions I don't rinse either. I think the sauce sticks better and the pasta has a better texture. Pasta for cold salad is an exception and awlays gets rinsed.

[Wonka]

I don't rinse, the sauce adheres better when you don't rinse off the starches. I do reserve some of the pasta water and use it if the sauce is too thick or for sauces that just need a bit more moisture.

[TrillumHunter]

I must be doing something wrong with the rice pasta. If I don't rinse it there's just a big lump of noodles in the colander covered in slime. It clumps up before the water is completely drained. I've used lots of brands and some are better than others but I always have to rinse some.

What am I doing wrong?

[Juliebove]

I must be doing something wrong with the rice pasta. If I don't rinse it there's just a big lump of noodles in the colander covered in slime. It clumps up before the water is completely drained. I've used lots of brands and some are better than others but I always have to rinse some.

What am I doing wrong?

I use Rachel Ray's spaghetti pot for all of my pasta. I fill it almost all the way to the top with water and add a lot of sea salt for flavor. I then bring the water to a full boil, put in the pasta and stir. With spaghetti or some of the longer pastas you may have to wait a minute or two for it to soften enough to stir.

The only time it clumps together for me is if the phone rings or some other distraction occurs and I can't stir it.

I also set the timer for two minutes before what the minimum cooking time is on the package. When the timer goes off, I take out a piece, rinse it in cold water just to cool it then taste to see if it is done.

[jerseyangel]

I do what Julie does--use a lot of water, salt and add the pasta after the water comes to a rolling boil. Stir frequently--more than you did for wheat pasta, cook until just tender (this happens fast--I set the timer for 5 minutes less than the package states and keep testing).

Immediately drain, shake collendar, pour into bowl and add the sauce.

I use Tinkyada and find that spaghetti takes more care than the "shapes".

[GlutenGalAZ]

I must be doing something wrong with the rice pasta. If I don't rinse it there's just a big lump of noodles in the colander covered in slime. It clumps up before the water is completely drained. I've used lots of brands and some are better than others but I always have to rinse some.

What am I doing wrong?

I use to have a similar problem with my noodles sticking. In the past I would just let the water get really hot (seemed like it took forever to boil so just went with hot) and I would end up with spaghetti noodles sticking to each other not understanding why.

I had a surgery back in January and my husband (gluten eater) made me some of my meals for a week (I use to be really picky b/c he doesn't like to test the noodles to see if they are done ha) well.... he was like ta da!! Look the noodles don't stick, you need to let the water come to a "boil" errrr he thought he was all that at the time but thanks to him doing that I now wait for the water to boil and my noodles come out really nice. Go figure ha!

I do notice though that the boiling is the main thing to noodles turning out (at least for me) and the first couple of minutes that the noodles are in the water. After the first 3-4 minutes I set my timer for 2-3 minutes so I can work on something else and then go back to the noodles and stir when the timer goes off and then re-set till they are ready.

Depending on the noodles I am using and how the water looks after cooking will determine if I rinse the noodles off or not.

Hope this helped some... GOOD LUCK!