Nigella Lawson Saves Pasta Water For Another Homemade Food

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Possibly the most sensual cook on network television, Nigella Lawson is famous for her "Nigella Bites" show, penning multiple bestselling cooking guides like "How To Eat" and creatively pronouncing microwave as "mee-kro-WAH-vay" while making mashed potatoes. But she broke the carb-based internet when she posted to bread-bakers on X: 

Quick message to all those making bread at the moment. Keep the water you've cooked potatoes or pasta in. It will help the bread's texture and rise.

— Nigella Lawson (@Nigella_Lawson) March 26, 2020

Pasta water is great for pasta sauce, but who knew it had other uses? If you're picturing a slice of a fluffy bread and a cup of murky, lukewarm water as the world's oddest couple, you're right. But if you rewind a few steps in the baking process, it's easy to sub in reserved pasta water for the usual water called for in your favorite scratch-made sourdough recipe. The boosted rise comes from the extra starch in the pasta water, which feeds the yeast to create springy air in your loaf, leaving it delightfully tender and soft once it's out of the oven. A higher pasta-to-water ratio equals a greater concentration of that delicious starch. Pile on the penne, then pump up your pizza dough.

But first things first: You've gotta sample that pasta water. If it's super salty, it's a smart idea to lessen the amount of salt used in the rest of your bread recipe. Salt is a huge part of how your loaf forms that drool-worthy structure, ideal color, and (yum) that delectable flavor — but nobody wants a homemade bread fail that tastes like it came straight outta the salty sea.

Pasta water definitely serves as a killer upgrade to the usual "carb-free" tap water you mix into your homemade bread dough. But since you've responsibly reserved all that pasta water (You can freeze it, if you want), why not use it in literally every dish you possibly can?

It's a total no-brainer to whip up Anthony Bourdain's favorite cacio e pepe (which relies on the starchy stuff), but you can even ditch the milk and add it to your go-to boxed mac and cheese. There are also plenty of YouTubers bent on cooking multiple batches of pasta in the same water to create seriously starchy sauces. Still, pasta sauce is obvious; You can go beyond the bucatini with a little ingenuity.

Blanch fresh, crunchy veggies in a pot of boiling pasta water for scale-tipping flavor or fill up a bowl to soak dried beans overnight. Along the more shadowy fringes of the internet, you'll find recommendations to wash your dishes with it, or add it to powdered hot chocolate mix for the creamiest cocoa. 

Of course, you could also toast the ghost of that linguini you ate the other night by mixing up a dirty pasta water martini (Luckily, the alcohol and olives in it make it seem like it's supposed to be really cloudy). However thirsty you're suddenly feeling for pasta water, these culinary gems would be perfectly paired with a homemade loaf of bread that's made with love — and the je ne sais quoi of liquid gold.