{top tip} Starchy Water for Better Sauces

In my home kitchen, I use a lot of shortcuts and tricks gleaned from my checkered pants past. From time to time I will pull one out of my toque and share it with you! If you have questions or requests, leave them in the comments and I’ll tackle them in a future post.

Every Italian nonna worth her salt will tell you to save your pasta water! Before serving, add a splash of the pasta water to the sauce simmering on the stove and cook, stirring, to combine and heat through. Then toss it with the pasta. The starch in the water will make the sauce a bit creamier and help it hold on to the pasta. If it looks watery and gross when you first add it to the sauce, don’t worry–just keep cooking it and it will get incorporated into your sauce. You don’t need much, anywhere from a couple of tablespoons to half a cup!

This also works very well if you’re making gravy and potatoes in the same meal. Use part water and part potato water for a creamier gravy that needs less flour.