Gordon Ramsay's Top Tip For Making Sure Your Pasta Doesn't Stick
Boiling pasta seems easy enough, right? It's just noodles and water. What could possibly go wrong? It turns out, quite a bit. And everyone seems eager to point out the biggest mistakes you're making with pasta and the simple ways to fix them.
One of the biggest errors home cooks make with pasta is failing to add enough salt to the water. Yup, a few shakes simply won't do it. Giada De Laurentiis told Eating Well that it's important to add a hefty amount of salt and make the water "taste like the sea." Why? Food52 explains this is the only tool you have for adding flavor to the pasta itself. Another common faux pas is putting your noodles in too early, forcing them to cook for too long.
Never neglect your noodles. Instead, Cook's Illustrated says to check their cooking progress regularly and test them by tasting. And don't add oil to your water. This will stop your sauce from adhering to your pasta and, instead, leave you with a pile of naked noodles sitting in a puddle of alfredo (per Food & Wine). And, it turns out that Gordon Ramsay has something to say about erroneous pasta preparation as well.
Turning the pot will stop pasta from sticking
Does your pasta stick to the bottom of the pan? Gordon Ramsay has the cure for that. According to a recent post on his YouTube channel, the secret to avoiding this disaster is to add the pasta to your pot of boiling water and then twist the pot from one side to another over the burner. Who knew?
And if you want to prevent your noodles from sticking together, Ramsay says a rolling boil and the addition of olive oil to the water will do the trick. (Yes, he says to add olive oil while many others say not to.) But that's not where his advice ends. According to Ramsay, when you're dealing with a lengthy pasta, you should put one end in the boiling water, give it time to soften up, and then "gently twist it to submerge the rest" (via Mirror). And never snap your noodles in half.
Ramsay also likes to season his pasta after he's drained it. Apparently, "one tablespoon olive oil, salt, and freshly cracked pepper" makes for top-notch noodles. And always aim for perfect al dente pasta.
Hopefully, this advice will help solve any pasta problems you may be having. And when it comes to the olive oil controversy, all you can do is test it for yourself.