5 mistakes home cooks make whilst cooking traditional Italian dishes
Cooking pasta sounds like a task that should be easy, but creating an authentic Italian pasta dish is trickier than you think.
From the exact formula that makes up Bolognese sauce to how the pasta should be cooked is up for debate by many home chefs.
However, Giovanni Rana, who has been making pasta since the 1960s in Italy, has revealed the secrets to capturing the authentic taste of Italian cooking in your home.
He’s shared a few tips to the Daily Mail:
1. Follow the instructions on the pasta packaging
“There are a lot of urban legends about al dente pasta but in Italy not everybody loves al dente pasta,” revealed Giovanni’s daughter-in-law Antonella.
“In the North they love it a little softer, into the South they love their pasta almost raw.
“I’d suggest always following the time printed on the packet. Fresh pasta is the quickest. We’re talking about just two minutes.”
Antonella revealed her personal way to cook pasta.
“I personally love to drain the pasta 15 seconds before the full cooking time. If it’s written two minutes, I drain at 1:50 and in the very last 10 seconds I use a mixing bowl to mix the sauce in. This way you don’t overcook your pasta.”
2. Don’t add too much sauce
Although it might seem like a good idea to cover your pasta in sauce, too much sauce could be a bad thing. Using the wrong proportion of sauce to pasta can be a dead giveaway to an inexperienced chef preparing Italian food.
“When you're speaking about fresh pasta tortellini, the filling has its own taste and power, as Italians we try not to cover it too much with the sauce.
“Especially ricotta and spinach which is so delicate and so pure, that if you add a lot of sauce, you will see the pasta swimming in the sauce. It’s not a good sign,” Antonella explained.
“In general, the most traditional way to eat fresh filled pasta is to be very respectful of the proportions. The queen is the pasta and the sauce is the tool.”
3. Never add ketchup!
Using tomato ketchup instead of fresh tomatoes in sauce is another common mistake that is made by home chefs. According to Antonella, it’s just not the same.
“Tomato ketchup for me, means burgers and casual food.
“In the tomato sauce you can really play with more veggies, for example garlic, onion, carrot, celery or you can play with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.”
There is a way to make contemporary Italian sauce.
“If you want to do something more, try to work on doing tomato sauce in the Italian way. Roughly chop onion, garlic, fresh ripe tomatoes and cook for a few minutes.
“Then add fresh basil, this is the most contemporary Italian sauce.”
4. Loss of flavour by adding already grated cheese
Although it might be easier to use already grated cheese, you’ve already lost half the flavour in parmigiana.
“Always buy parmigiana reggiano in a whole piece where you can see the crust and the stamp. Never buy it already grated, as you’ve already lost half the flavour,” Antonella said.
5. Not using extra virgin olive oil
According to Antonella, extra virgin olive oil is a must-have in authentic Italian dishes.
“Extra virgin oil, it's a facilitator and platform that you can’t miss, never buy just olive oil as this means the olive fruits have been pressed two, three times and also their bones,' said Antonella.
“When you buy extra virgin it means they’ve pressed the olives just once and they press the pulp – the colour, flavour, nutrients and everything is better.
“If you like light flavour buy from the North of Italy, if you like medium body then you go for the centre such as Tuscany. If you like bold, spicy flavour, you buy from Sicily.”