Yes, you absolutely can reduce pasta water. Reducing pasta water is a common technique used in cooking.
Reducing pasta water involves simmering it down to decrease its volume and concentrate the dissolved solids within it. This is often done to enhance sauces.
Why Reduce Pasta Water?
Pasta water isn't just plain water; it contains starch released from the pasta during cooking. This starch acts as a natural emulsifier. When added to sauces, particularly oil-based ones like pesto or cacio e pepe, it helps bind the oil and water components together, creating a smooth, cohesive, and glossy texture. It also helps the sauce cling better to the pasta.
Reducing the water further concentrates this beneficial starch.
The Reduction Process and Considerations
Based on available information, reducing pasta water is one of the ways you can prepare it for future use or immediate application in a sauce.
- Concentrating Starch: As the water evaporates during reduction, the proportion of starch to water increases significantly. This results in a thicker liquid that is more effective at emulsifying and thickening sauces.
- Concentrating Salt: It's crucial to remember that pasta water is typically salted generously. Just as reducing the water concentrates the starch, it also concentrates the salt. This means reduced pasta water will be much saltier than the original cooking water. You must keep that in mind when adding it to your sauce and adjust the seasoning of your dish accordingly to avoid making it too salty.
How to Reduce Pasta Water
- After cooking pasta, carefully ladle or pour some of the starchy cooking water into a small saucepan.
- Place the saucepan over medium heat.
- Simmer gently, allowing the water to evaporate, until the liquid has reduced to your desired consistency – it will become noticeably thicker and cloudier. This might take anywhere from a few minutes to 10-15 minutes, depending on the amount of water and desired reduction level.
- Allow the reduced pasta water to cool completely before storing it.
Storing Reduced Pasta Water
Once cooled, reduced pasta water can be stored for later use.
- Refrigeration: Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a few days.
- Freezing: As an alternative to reducing, you can freeze it as it is. If you choose to reduce it first, you can also freeze the reduced version. Pour the cooled, reduced pasta water into ice cube trays and freeze. Once frozen, transfer the cubes to a freezer bag. These "starch bombs" are convenient for adding to sauces portion by portion.
Remember to allow the water (whether reduced or not) to cool completely before pouring into molds or containers for freezing.
Reducing pasta water is a simple technique that significantly enhances the texture and finish of many pasta sauces, leveraging the natural starch from the pasta itself. Just be mindful of the increased saltiness!
