In my efforts to use it all, I started saving my pasta cooking water to use as part of the liquid in soups and gravies. The cooking water is starchy, so it gives soup some body without adding any other thickeners. It also has some flavor. So I figured I may as well use this water when preparing other meals. I've been using the starchy water in soup, gravy, and as a substitute for part of the milk in white sauce/cheese sauce for binding casserole ingredients.
Friday lunch, I made a tomato, basil, and garbanzo bean soup using the pasta water from earlier this week. I normally thicken the tomato base with flour for this soup. The pasta liquid gave enough body to the soup that thickening with flour was unnecessary. I was also able to cut the salt for the soup in half, due to the already flavorful pasta water.
To save the cooking water, instead of putting the colander in the sink, I place it in a heat-resistant bowl that's placed on a trivet (the water will be hot). My favorite bowl for this task is a large, heavy duty glass measuring pitcher. I strain the liquid into the bowl and allow it to cool before transferring to a canning jar. I keep it in the fridge for up to a week and use it when I'm making soup, gravy, or white sauce. It's a thick liquid, giving substance to white sauce (used half and half with milk) where just water would be too thin.
If you're in the habit of using lots and lots of water for cooking pasta, Cooking Light actually recommends using less water, just enough water to keep the pasta covered while boiling. They recommend (and I agree) stirring the pasta during the first few minutes of cooking to prevent the pasta pieces from sticking to each other, in lieu of boiling in a large quantity of water. The result of using less water in cooking is a thick, starchy liquid. In contrast, using several quarts of water for cooking a family meal of pasta will dilute the flavor and starch in the end water.
Do you reuse pasta cooking water? What are your thoughts?
