Celebrity chef James Martin has unveiled the professional secrets he learned directly from Italian chefs to elevate a simple pasta dish into something extraordinary. The 53-year-old television presenter insists that many home cooks are missing one vital, "crucial" step that transforms both flavour and texture.
The 'Crucial' Foundations: Salted Water and No Oil
Demonstrating a lobster pasta dish on his ITV show, Saturday Morning, Martin shared the fundamental advice passed on by his Italian friends. The first rule is to never add oil to the pasta water. Instead, the key is to use abundantly salted, rapidly boiling water.
"They said, 'It should taste of the sea'," Martin recounted, before joking, "clearly they've never been to Whitby and stuck their tongue in the water." He emphasised that this seasoning step is essential for building flavour from the very beginning of the cooking process.
Martin also reminded viewers of the significant difference in cooking times between fresh and dried pasta. Fresh pasta, like the tagliatelle he used, requires merely two to three minutes in boiling water, while dried varieties typically need around 12 minutes, depending on their shape and thickness.
Finishing in the Sauce: The Non-Negotiable Step
The second, and equally vital, technique Martin highlighted is how to combine the pasta with its sauce. "Finish the pasta in the sauce, it's really crucial not to just pile the pasta and then put the sauce on top," he stressed during the broadcast.
By transferring the almost-cooked pasta directly into the pan of simmering sauce with a bit of the starchy cooking water, the pasta finishes cooking while absorbing the sauce's flavours. This creates a cohesive, restaurant-quality dish where the sauce clings to every strand or piece, rather than sitting separately on the plate.
To complete the dish, Martin recommends a final flourish of fresh basil, a pinch of salt, a grind of black pepper, and a generous dusting of parmesan cheese.
The One-Minute Resting Trick from an Italian Maestro
In a related tip that complements Martin's advice, Italian chef and restaurateur Nima Safaei advocates for a simple one-minute pause that can dramatically improve a pasta dish. His secret is to let the sauced pasta rest off the heat before serving.
"Remember to rest your pasta for one minute before serving, just like you rest a steak," Safaei revealed. "Letting it sit in the sauce off the heat allows the flavours to settle and the texture to become perfectly supple."
In a more controversial suggestion, Safaei also proposes that a dash of soy sauce can elevate a classic ragú. He claims it adds a deep, rich umami taste that is hard to replicate. "Yes, the entire population of Italy may hate me for it," he conceded, "but there's something about the sweet yet tangy profile soy sauce adds that can turn any ragú from fine to outstanding."
Viewers can catch more culinary insights on James Martin's Saturday Morning, which airs weekly from 9.30am on ITV and ITVX.
