Pasta is one of those dishes everyone thinks they know how to cook. You boil water, throw the pasta in, drain it, add sauce. Done, right? Not quite.
Pasta is simple, yes, but simple food leaves nowhere to hide. When something is off, you feel it immediately. The texture is wrong. The sauce slides away. The whole dish feels… flat.
After cooking pasta my whole life and eating it more times a week than I probably should admit, I can tell you this, most pasta disappointments come down to a few very common mistakes. The good news is they are easy to fix once you know what to look for. Let’s break them down.
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⏱️⏱️TIMECODES⏱️⏱️
0:00 Introduction to 10 Biggest Pasta Cooking Mistakes
0:33 Mistake # 1: Choosing the Wrong Pasta and Sauce Pairing
1:38 Mistake # 2 Using a Pot That’s Too Small
2:33 Mistake # 3 Under-Salting the Cooking Water
4:14 Mistake # 4 Don’t Add Oil to the Pasta Water
5:14 Mistake # 5 Cooking Pasta Before the Sauce Is Ready
6:05 Mistake # 6 Overcooking the Pasta
6:47 Mistake # 7 Skipping the Mantecatura
7:42 Mistake # 8 Forgetting the Final Touches
8:46 Mistake # 9 Letting Pasta Sit Too Long
9:37 Mistake # 10 Reheating Pasta the Wrong Way
11:12 Bonus: The One Mistake That Matters Most
11:31 Pre-Order My First Cookbook, Authentic Italian
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🎬 #VincenzosPlate is a YouTube channel with a focus on cooking, determined to teach the world, one video recipe at a time that you don’t need to be a professional chef to impress friends, family and yourself with mouth-watering #ItalianFoodRecipes right out of your very own kitchen whilst having a laugh (and a glass of vino!).
50 Comments
Great tips. Thank you!
Even though I use Celtic sea salt, I used to add way too much salt in the water after copying Italians so I'm happy you adressed this, especially concerning children.There's another problem were dealing with though, European Union approved crickets and worms in food a couple of years ago, especially in pizza/bread flours and pastas which made me wonder if you know about this and if you have encountered these ingredients in Italian products. They're cleverly labelled by their latin names as people logically wouldn't buy products with names like crickets and worms so 'Locusta Migratoria', 'Ageta domesticus' or Ageta/Tenebrio/Alvitobius are names found on packaging making us all sick basically. Hope you research this.
I overcooked the pasta, and my husband gave me a black eye😢
completely agree wth the love and passion. Bravo!!🤗
This video was very helpful – thank you!
Where did the term ‘spaghetti bolognese’ come from because it’s the wrong pasta?
I totally agree with ALL your pasta cooking mistakes! Oil in the pasta water? UGH! No Italian I know does that. I can't STAND pasta that is too cooked… it's awful! I always tell the restaurant… al dente (Italian restaurants usually don't need to be told). I used the pasta water when making Pasta e ricotta. But I'll stat using it always! I LOVE the cheese on top… I can get carried away with it! 🙂
Yes watch salt when adding. Pecorino cheese made that mistake! lol
A great list. My humble addition to yours is "do not put your cooked pasta after running cold water to ´stop´ the cooking process". I grew up seeing that "technique" being applies on every spanish kitchen 😅
Everytime you put oil into the cooking water somewhere in Italy a nonna dies!
Hence the reason for al dente as the pasta absorbs the sauce as it cooks.❤
this is mostly nonsense tbf
Oh, make me hungry, why don’t cha? LoL. I wish we could get the the Italian brands here in WV.
If made in US, (tariff restrictions), heard US still uses glycophate to the crops? We don’t buy that chemical crap Roundout on the shelves in either Lowes, HD or WMT.
Rock salt? Well, most of us have either picked upMorton# or the Kosher .
Italian brands ? Never heard the names you mention. Last 5ime I was in the grocery store, I was poking for plain Barilla but all they had was the gluten free version.
Just bought rigattoni and pesto for my dinner, then I got immedietaly roasted by an Italian! Can't make this up 😀
Vincenzo, thank you for your videos! I’ve been watching your videos for about 5 years, big fan of you!
I have a question about the amount of pasta water. You always say, that it should be at least 1 litre per 100 gr, and it is always written on the packet. However I’ve heard from several sources that in some recipes you should put less water to create greater emulsion. For example for carbonara, where it matters a lot. The point is that less water makes the bigger concentration of starch in it, which leads to better emulsion.
What do you think about it?
The one that really gets me mad is people who put balsamic vinegar on everything. Only because my family once went to a local italian restaurant and they did that to my pasta. now i can never eat balsamic vinegar again.
Thanks Vincenzo, love your work! ❤
I sometimes greatly undercook my pasta. I call it Al dentist😁
Yummi❤
Thanks my friend. Your videos really put my Italien cooking on the next level 👌🤝
@Vincenzo's Plate what are your thought for ravioly with pesto sause??
I am mostly using fusilli and it fit to every sauce I make 😂
So fusilli is all purpose pasta…..
I am reahiting pasta in classic electric oven and it is great.
10: reheating pasta. Did it (and still have to do it sometimes) and usually wasn't 100% happy with it. When I have clearly too much for the day's serving I save some sauce without the pasta beforehand for the next day and prepare fresh pasta. You should always have this few extra minutes.
Of course not for Lasagne&friends…
I always cringe when I see Bolognese sauce served with spaghetti. It just doesn't make sense, the sauce has no way to stick. But it's a great way to separate authentic Italian restaurants from pseudo-Italian ones.
I learned a trick to prepare pasta aldante and healthy. If you use orange, clementine or kumquat peel in water before boiling pasta, the noodles will absorb the flavors. The peels have more benefits than the fruit itself and avoid wasting
Mistake #4 you're also pouring it down the strain wasting your money on olive oil.
My mother used to warm leftovers in a covered dish over a pot of water, double boiler style. The steam created warmed , whatever leftover, without over cooking it in a microwave. 12:09
Just love love this video. I have been following you for a long time now. Amazing recipes and they r so delicious. I have followed you way of making the pasta. It’s delicious. Thank you so much ! GOd bless ! ❤❤❤
"Mushy" pasta not being tasty is a myth. In fact, sometimes it’s even tastier, depending on the dish. I vote for being more open-minded.
get a collab with Max Mariola !
what about a 1 person pasta pan? what size? simple pastas just to cook…how big for the pasta to swim?
❤❤❤
You should review Micheal Franzese Pomodora. He issued a challenge to Gordon Ramsey to make something better.
Good that you mention heating up leftovers in a pan. That used to be standard but young ones don't know about it. In many cases, it makes for a tastier dish than the original
I always try get fresh pasta its much better than dry pasta in a box
break pasta in half for spaghetti😎
A strategy I use to reheat my pasta dishes is to save some extra pasta water, allow the pasta and the water to cool, then add the water to the pasta dish prior to placing it in your refrigerator. This way, once everything is cooled, your pasta will not absorb any more water and it will be ready to be rehydrated when you want to reheat it.
I have been watching your channel for a while, and one of the best secrets I've learned is to keep the pasta water, that has changed my culinary experience!
That last one might sound corny. When I grew up me and my dad always cooked together (it was just the two of us), he taught me all he could. Now he is 83 years old and I have his role. It always tastes better when we've done something together.
I don't put much love in making any food, as it will often end in health issues anyway, due to allergies, but at least I avoid many of these mistakes. Some I do: not enough water (largest pot contains not more than 2 l, but I want 250 g of spaghetti), not al dente (but not mushy either), not using the water from the pasta for the sauce (either not enough water for the pasta at all or sauce ready far later than the pasta). Currently I even use "instant sauce", but that might change. But I would never use oil for cooking, never think it is possible to combine any pasta with any sauce, never would let the pasta wait and get cold. An Italian would very likely not accept my pasta, but I think it's the best way I can make them.
Thank you so much again for sharing your skills sir, even as a retired chef, one is learning heaps from you. Such a big difference from what one learned at William Angliss catering college in Melbourne in the late 70s.
Peter
Townsville
It's wonderful when you're talking with such passion about love between pasta and sauce. And it's good to know I'm not making any of those mistakes. Maybe because I love pasta and have great respect for this dish. Thank you for your passion.😊
I've put oil in my pasta water and pasta comes out fine. Not stuck to each other, no issues with the sauce flavoring it. My mother taught me to do it this way and I've done this way my whole life, so I don't think I'm stopping any time soon. I also don't like al dente pasta, I like it soft. I always go longer than the recommended time on the box. I guess to each their own.
I reckon the main reason for people using oil in the water in the first place is that people often drain pasta, let it sit, and then deal with the sauce. So, one problem creates another. The pasta dies of shame, and sticks, never gets to consummate its marriage with the sauce, then gets further defiled with pre-grated "parmesan".
The reheating part is new to me because I only add water but I will also add extra virgin olive oil to the pan. Thanks my friend.
I have never understand what the big deal is with the pasta water. Seriusly, it does absolutely nothing to the sauce except make it a wet runny, salty mess. 😢
carbs make us fat
I don't understand why everyone's primary resource for learning Italian cooking isn't the Italian guy with the real Italian accent and the Italian nonna. Every other resource in this area should be secondary. Thank you Vincenzo for all you've taught me.
.. I simply love Italian food, and certainly pasta dishes.. I can eat it any time ☺️ and then I learned something new too 😳 a few things about pasta I've learned way back years ago, but now know that is a huge no no.. I'm never ever going to do that again for sure 🤗 thank you so vety much for sharing your knowledge ☺️