15 Italian Cooking Secrets That Will Change Your Life

If you adequately salt boiling water before adding pasta, the residual water that remains after the pasta is cooked is a salty, starchy, thickening and flavoring agent. You should save about a cup of the water before you drain the rest; a lot of people like to scoop it out with a mug. When you make classic pastas like cacio e pepe (pasta with cheese and pepper), incorporating the pasta water is a must-have step for a silky, "creamy" (without cream) sauce.