Have you ever tried "marrying" pasta to the sauce?

[Anonymous]

I was recently told by a friend about a way to cook pasta that she learned from Rachael Ray, where you "marry" the pasta to the sauce by boiling the pasta until about one minute before al dente, save some of the starchy pasta water, strain the pasta, then return it to the pan with the bit of pasta water you saved as well as your sauce, and cook it for a few more minutes.

I tried this myself and it is SO good! I wasn't sure it would make a huge difference from just boiling the pasta to completion and then adding the sauce before you eat it, but it really enhances the flavor in my opinion.

Have you ever tried this method?

[SuperManiac]

My wife always cooks pasta this way with some of the pasta water left over along with being asinine about getting the pasta to come out perfectly al dente. She's kind of meticulous about pasta cooking. I always liked her pasta cooking but never tried before and after directly to compare when it comes to this marrying thing.

[blutwolfe]

Ya it makes sense with store bought sauce, if you make your sauce if doesn't matter as much cause it'll "marry" as the sauce cools down with the pasta

[Asker]

That's interesting, I didn't know that! I'm pretty much a novice when it comes to cooking, so I have only ever made a homemade sauce once and while it had good flavor, it turned out extremely watery, which was frustrating since it took hours to cook. I'll add some stuff to jarred sauces sometimes, but usually just use a jar of Rao's.

[blutwolfe]

Ya you basically cook the water out of the sauce, if you're making more of a bolognese aka meat sauce, you pretty much simmer until all that wateriness is out. In a crock pot that can take a better part of the day, I think stove top isn't as bad, also depends on how much sauce used. It's definitely a slower process. But by the time it's done it's still hot af and you can just mix it with the equally hot pasta and it'll soak it up some. I'm really not too picky personally I prefer to not wait lol

[abc3643]

I've sort of done it. I am sure that my wife has done it.
I miss Rachel Ray - we used to live near her.

[bangyourhead]

yeah, I do it all the time.

[ForteExe]

I prefer it this way