Use Gordon Ramsay's Seasoning Method For Tastier Pasta
When it comes to cooking pasta, everyone has an opinion that starts with the liquid you boil it in. Salt the water, don't salt the water. Add olive oil, don't add it. It can be a new cook's worst Googling nightmare to try and sort through all the different schools of thought on when and how to season this food favorite. Even Gordon Ramsay has his own personal seasoning method for tastier pasta, and it might be a technique worth adding to your list to try as you discern the best way to make perfectly delicious pasta.
The professional chef basically hedges his bet. According to his Youtube channel, Ramsay recommends salting the water you are going to boil your pasta in, as well as adding olive oil to the mix. But that's just the beginning of building its flavor. The "Hell's Kitchen" restauranteur instructs that after you drain your noodles, you want to season them with a little salt, cracked pepper, and more olive oil. This will make for a much tastier al dente pasta.
Seasoning inside and out
How does Ramsay's technique work? It really seasons pasta from the inside out. Pasta is comprised of flour, water, and eggs, which means it is a blank canvas waiting for flavor to be infused to transform noodles into something your taste buds can't get enough of. When the pasta hydrates in that warm water, it takes on a bit of the savory taste of the salted water. Ramsay notes that the olive oil coats the noodles so they don't stick together. So, why add salt and pepper after the pasta has been drained?
Just because your pasta is going to absorb some of the salt from your salted water when it boils, doesn't mean it is going to absorb all of it. If you add a tablespoon of salt to the water, you should anticipate your pound of pasta taking on about a quarter of that. For this reason, adding a little shake of salt and pepper after it has drained simply enhances your pasta from the outside.