When it comes to pasta, there are a lot of different ways to make it depending on your own preference, but according to experts, baking it can really lock in some flavour
Everyone’s comfort food is pasta. Pasta, whether it is spaghetti or macaroni, is the kind of dish you can’t go wrong with, and it’s so versatile that it can be mixed with almost anything.
But there’s one way to make it better by adding one key ingredient: salt. If you’re a pasta lover, then you know the importance of getting every detail right when it comes to cooking it. One important step that often sparks debate is whether or not to add salt to the pasta water.
According to Cjonline, the secret to a better pasta is to bake it, instead of boiling it. By baking it, it adds that crispiness for the perfect bite. The salt water is also said to elevate the taste. Salt can be picked up in every UK supermarket for under £1, making it the perfect condiment to have stashed away.
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Most baked pasta recipes will tell you to boil the noodles until they’re halfway cooked before baking them. Although it allows the pasta to finish cooking in the oven by mixing it with the sauce, it’s an undeniable inconvenience.
The site warned pasta chefs to keep a close eye on the dish, and added: “If you boil the noodles more than halfway, they’ll be overcooked by the time you pull the finished dish out of the oven. If you don’t precook the pasta and instead add it dry to the sauce for baking, it will take much longer to become tender in the oven, even as it absorbs all the liquid in the sauce,” it added. “Dry pasta needs to hydrate.”
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Pre-soak your pasta
The solution is to soak the pasta in warm salted water before adding it with the other ingredients and popping it into the oven. Pre-soaking the pasta with salt is the correct way to hydrate it and remove its starch. By adding salt in the water, it also pre-seasons the pasta by giving it that little extra kick.
The best thing about it is that when baking all the ingredients into one dish, not only does it simplify the cooking process, but it reduces the clean-up once the food has been eaten. The taste also remains as good, if not better, by creating a crispy crust on top.