• Droggelbecher@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    12
    arrow-down
    7
    ·
    4 days ago

    If you forget to salt the pasta water, there’s no way of making it taste as if you had. And even if the salt dissolves well in the sauce, it won’t permeate whatever chunky things there might be in the sauce as if you’d salted a lit bit every step of the way. But yeah, it’ll be ok, even if it won’t be as good as it would have been. (I know you didn’t say it would be the same, just wanted to add).

    • algorithmae@lemmy.sdf.org
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      4 days ago

      I never salt my pasta water, and don’t miss it. It’s uncessary salt when the pasta and sauce have plenty anyway

        • Aksamit@slrpnk.net
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          edit-2
          4 days ago

          You can use less salt if you use less water. I only add enough salt so that the water tastes as salty as broth.

          Also pasta cooks just fine in a shallow pan of boiling water, you only need enough water to cover the top of the amount of pasta your cooking. Remember to stir it a few times though, or it clumps up.

          (This is the best way to cook pasta if you are poor and live in a damp/poorly ventelated building. Boiling litres of water per serving is inefficient and expensive, and it makes your kitchen mouldy.)

        • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          4 days ago

          Yup. I grab my salt can and do about two sprinkle passes and it seems to turn out pretty good. It’s probably around a teaspoon (maybe more) per bag of pasta.

          Oh, and use a bit of that pasta water in the sauce, that helps.

      • Xenny@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        4 days ago

        You just aren’t putting enough salt in? Literally made pasta two days ago and upon eating my first thought was “damn I almost oversalted the pasta water” because the noodles were in fact, salty

      • prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        arrow-down
        10
        ·
        edit-2
        4 days ago

        Yeah you put salt in pasta water to change the properties of the water so it boils differently, not to flavor the pasta lmao

        You don’t want to change the flavor of your pasta by over salting the water, that’s just gross.

        • Krauerking@lemy.lol
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          9
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          4 days ago

          Not really. Salt in the water is mostly for flavor, the raise in boiling point is so miniscule by the amount added it’s practically ignorable.

          Adding oil breaks surface tension so that it’s less likely to foam over.

          • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            4
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            4 days ago

            Yup. Don’t oversalt, but certainly add a healthy amount to the water. Some of that salt gets absorbed into the pasta, which gives it a richer flavor.

            I personally bring the water to a boil, add pasta, and then add salt (to keep temps as high as possible), but I highly doubt the order here matters at all.

            • Krauerking@lemy.lol
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              3
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              4 days ago

              Yeah the only rule I know is don’t add the salt to a cold pan with cold water as heating it up may cause it to damage the bottom of your pan. But adding salt at any point while the water is hot and you aren’t done cooking the pasta is pretty safe.