Celebrity chef Scott Conant says you’ve been cooking pasta all wrong

A TOP chef has revealed the simple mistakes that people make when cooking pasta with tomato sauce.

It may be a simple and comforting staple dish, but it seems that we’ve been prepping our pasta all wrong.

Celebrity chef Scott Conant.

One chef believes there’s a very specific method when it comes to prepping pasta with the perfect tomato-based sauce. http://sofood.me Scott Conant, who runs New York’s Fusco restaurant and who has been dubbed “the Maestro of pasta,” shared his guide to making perfect “pantry pasta” with My Domaine. The ultimate secret, according to Scott, is adding a splash of the pasta water to the tomato sauce to bring out the “perfect” flavour.

A handful of bucatini is perfect for one person, Scott Conant says. Picture: SBSSource:Supplied

Conant says a tight handful of Bucatini (thick spaghetti style noodles) is the perfect amount for one person and says that just less than 10 minutes is the optimum time for cooking this type of pasta. Meanwhile, he fries sliced garlic with a handful of crushed red pepper, a handful of sliced tomatoes and a pinch of salt.

Celebrity chef Scott Conant says a spoonful of pasta water is the trick. Picture:

Conant says that when the tomatoes begin to cook down, this is the perfect time to add a spoonful of the pasta water. He then covers the pan and waits for it to bubble.

He explained: “Thanks to the addition of the pasta water it’s salted well but not too much; it’s more like broth. “As you cook it and it reduces, it doesn’t become too salty.”