Celebrity chef Marco Pierre White has shared his top tips for cooking the perfect pasta, insisting that the cooking time on the packet is often too long. The Michelin-starred chef, known for his restaurants Harveys and The Restaurant Marco Pierre White, says the key to al dente pasta is to cook it for one minute less than recommended.
White advises using a large pan with plenty of water – at least five litres per pound of pasta – and adding a generous amount of salt. He stresses that olive oil should not be added to the cooking water, but only after the pasta has been drained.
“If the recommended cooking time for your pasta is eight minutes, cook it for seven,” White explains. “I take my pan of pasta, drain it, remove the water into the sauce, work the sauce through the pasta… By the time it gets to the plate it's cooked another minute. If you take it out of the pan when it's perfectly cooked, it’s overcooked.”
The chef also downplays the importance of complex sauces, stating that “the pasta is the hero not the sauce”. He recommends dressing pasta like a salad, ensuring every bite has a little sauce. When it comes to finishing touches, White is generous with both Parmesan cheese and fresh basil.
