{"id":428764,"date":"2026-05-15T09:56:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T09:56:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/428764\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T09:56:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T09:56:26","slug":"pasta-comes-out-perfect-if-boiled-for-this-amount-of-time-not-what-it-says-on-packet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/428764\/","title":{"rendered":"Pasta comes out perfect if boiled for this amount of time \u2013 not what it says on packet"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Marco<\/p>\n

Marco has some firm rules when it comes to pasta (Image: Getty)<\/p>\n

Pasta, of all shapes, can be tricky to cook<\/a>. Spaghetti and linguine can be particularly treacherous. Underdone spaghetti is unpleasantly hard, and won\u2019t complement a sauce at all well, while cooking for a minute too long will leave you with a gloopy mess.<\/p>\n

Marco Pierre White<\/a>, who won coveted Michelin stars early in his career for restaurants such as Harveys and The Restaurant Marco Pierre White in London\u2019s Park Lane, has a few simple rules for anyone seeking to attain that perfect al dente firmness that will earn the approval of any visiting Italians.<\/p>\n

The first, he says, is to make sure you\u2019re using a big enough pan: \u201cThe secret when you cook pasta is deep water,\u201d he says, adding that step two is to include a \u201cgenerous amount of salt”.<\/p>\n

Most Italian chefs will recommend at least five litres of water for every pound of pasta, which is why you will see such enormous pans in their kitchens.<\/p>\n

Rather than a simple sprinkle, Marco throws a great fistful of sea salt into his pan of boiling water \u2013 \u201cthere\u2019s no need for olive oil,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

Read more: Marco Pierre White brutally tears apart Rachel Reeves as UK restaurants go bust <\/a><\/p>\n

Read more: Michelin-starred chef suddenly shuts down top UK restaurant after 15 years <\/a><\/p>\n

\"Cooking<\/p>\n

A really big pan, and plenty of water, is an absolute necessity (Image: Getty)<\/p>\n

But the vital secret, he stresses, is your cooking time. Less than a minute either way can spell the difference between triumph and disaster.<\/p>\n

If the recommended cooking time for your pasta is eight minutes, Marco advises, cook it for seven: \u201cYou may ask why,\u201d he says. \u201cI take my pan of pasta, drain it, remove the water into the sauce, work the sauce through the pasta\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the time it gets to the plate it’s cooked another minute. If you take it out of the pan when it’s perfectly cooked,\u201d Marco stresses, \u201cit\u2019s overcooked.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Spaghetti,<\/p>\n

Buy good ingredients, and you can’t go wrong (Image: Getty)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s only when the pasta is out of the pan that Marco adds a generous splash of olive oil, along with another hefty sprinkle of salt.<\/p>\n

He adds that despite what some purists with their own pasta machines might tell you, there\u2019s no shame in buying ready-made pasta: “Why waste time making pasta in your kitchen? Put your energies where it counts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marco also downplays the importance of pasta sauces: \u201cRemember the pasta is the hero not the sauce,\u201d he says, advising not to overwhelm the pasta with sauce: \u201cWhen you make pasta it should almost be like dressing a salad.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Fresh<\/p>\n

Simple is best, when it comes to sauces, Marco says (Image: Getty)<\/p>\n

He adds that the trick to maximising the flavour of your sauce is to \u201cwork it through\u201d thoroughly, to ensure that every bite of pasta comes with least a little sauce.<\/p>\n

When it comes to adding parmesan as a finishing touch, though, Marco is not one to be frugal. Suggesting you use \u201ca bit of\u201d the classic Italian hard cheese to finish off your pasta dish, the seasoned chef illustrated his preferences by dumping an enormous fistful of the stuff on top of his pasta.<\/p>\n

Marco garnished his pasta dish with some chopped fresh basil and, again, there were no half-measures. He used an absolute pile of Genovese basil \u2013 the essential component of a pesto \u2013 to give his pasta that authentic Italian touch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Marco has some firm rules when it comes to pasta (Image: Getty) Pasta, of all shapes, can be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":428765,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[219739,6217,156,219740,219737,111,139,69,219738,219736],"class_list":["post-428764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-al-dente","tag-cooking","tag-entertainment","tag-italian-cuisine","tag-marco-pierre-white","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-pasta-cooking-tips","tag-pasta-recipes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428764\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/428765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}