Nikole Herriott
Is There Liquid in Your Pot?
Throwing grated cheese, regardless of size, onto dry pasta will give you a lumpy sauce. Well, not even a sauce. It will just give you globs of cheese. Hot liquids, like pasta water, heavy cream, melted butter, or beaten eggs, help distribute melted cheese evenly by surrounding it with heat. Since every bit of surface area is in contact with hot liquid, the cheese melts at the same rate. No clumps to be found, just a glossy, luscious sauce.
Nikole Herriott
Are You Adding Your Cheese All at Once?
If you are, stop. Don’t do it! Adding the sauce slowly, bit-by-bit, as you stir the liquid and pasta in your pot will make the cheese melt evenly and avoid clumping. Think of it like this: Would you have more success carrying 500 pounds of pasta up the stairs at once, or making multiple trips with a fraction of that 500 pounds at a time? Unless you’re some kind of superhero or power lifting champion, I’d assume you’d prefer the latter. So does your sauce. Letting the cheese incorporate into the sauce little-by-little will guarantee that it stays smooth. Lighten the load. It will make everyone, including your sauce, happier.
Now, go make some spaghetti pomodoro, and don't forget to add that Parm bit-by-bit:
Almost as easy as opening a can of the store-bought stuff, and one hundred times more delicious.
