Let’s be honest, cooking pasta isn’t the hardest of tasks in the kitchen.
Pasta is one of the easiest things to cook, not including whatever sauce you choose to accompany your carbohydrate. All you need to do is bring a pot of water to the boil, throw your pasta in, and cook it for however long it says on the back of the packet.
But did you know there’s actually an alternative way to cook pasta that many professional chefs swear by, including Nigella Lawson?
The trick is called “passive” cooking, and it has the added benefit of actually saving you a couple of pennies on your energy bills at the same time, as it involves turning off the hob long before your pasta is cooked.
It’s been going viral on social media as we head into the colder months and energy bills start to climb.
A video on TikTok shared by Brightly suggests that using the passive cooking method could reduce the CO2 emissions of cooking pasta by 80% and save energy. So what do you have to do?
The clip states: “First, bring your water to a boil. Once your water reaches boiling point, add your dry pasta and stir to prevent sticking. Cook for two minutes, switch off the heat, and cover. Then enjoy your perfectly cooked pasta the sustainable way.”
The idea is that once you’ve cooked your pasta for two minutes in boiling water, you can cover the pan and turn off the heat, and the hot water will do the rest. You should leave your pasta to stand for as long as the packaging tells you to cook it for, so you should leave it for 10 minutes after you’ve turned the hob off.
The hack has been backed by Nigella Lawson, who referred to it on her website as the “Vincenzo Agnesi method” and said it “reduces the risk of overcooking” your pasta, so it is perfect for when you’re feeding a lot of people and have other things to focus on in the kitchen.
In a recipe on her website, she states: “Once the water comes back to the boil, let the pasta cook for two minutes, then turn off the heat, cover the pan with a clean, thin tea towel (not a waffle-textured one) and clamp on a tight-fitting lid. Let the pasta stand like this for as long as the packet tells you to cook it normally.”
The method was also hailed by the pasta brand Barilla, which describes it in detail on its website and claims that it has been around since the mid-19th century.
Commenters online have even claimed the technique has “altered their lives”, as others said they won’t cook pasta any other way since discovering the money saving method.
One person said: “Would it be dramatic to say the ‘passive cooking’ method for making pasta has totally altered my life?” As another added: “I love this! Thanks for bringing it to my attention, I’m going to try it this week.”
