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World Pasta Day: Chef Stefano Faita Gives Us His Secret Tips To Cooking Pasta Perfectly

Chef Stefano Faita Gives Us His Secret Tips To Cooking Pasta Perfectly
ravioli in tomato cream sauce
Shutterstock
ravioli in tomato cream sauce

Since 1995, October 25 has been celebrated as World Pasta Day. In a huge number of countries, pasta is the dish enjoyed most in the kitchen. Canadians, for example, have increased their annual consumption of pasta almost nine kilograms per capita over the past decade, making Canada one of the ten countries where people eat more pasta, according to pastacanada.com

So what better way would there be to celebrate the day honouring the food we love than speaking to chef Stefano Faita? The host of CBC's "In The Kitchen With Stefano Faita" is also a brand ambassador for Barilla pasta, and he was more than willing to reveal his secrets and tips for preparing pasta to perfection.

According to Faita, pasta is definitely one of the pillars of Italian cuisine. In addition to being nutritious, he claims, the dish allows people to gather around a table and share quality time with people you love.

And what are Faita's secrets for perfect pasta every time?

  • Drain the pasta using a large colander and stir gently to remove the excess water.
  • The pasta should be moist but not soggy.
  • Do not rinse pasta after cooking. The natural starch pastes that emerge allow for the pasta sauce to "stick."
  • Save a half-cup of the pasta water while draining — you can use this to dilute the sauce or add to the pasta sauce in a skillet just before serving.
  • In Italy, we generally partially cook the pasta for three minutes in the cooking water, then pour it into a pan and add the sauce to complete the cooking process for three minutes, so that the pasta absorbs the flavours of the sauce.

Did all that make you feel like eating pasta tonight? Check out these recipes — and let us know if you have some of your own in the comments below!

Butternut Squash Ravioli With Sage Browned Butter

Fall Pasta Recipes

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