Let's be honest, cooking pasta isn't the hardest of tasks in the kitchen. Pasta is one of the easiest things to cook , not including whatever sauce you choose to accompany your carbohydrate. All you need to do is bring a pot of water to the boil, throw your pasta in, and cook it for however long it says on the back of the packet.
But did you know there's actually an alternative way to cook pasta that many professional chefs swear by, including Nigella Lawson ? The trick is called "passive" cooking, and it has the added benefit of actually saving you a couple of pennies on your energy bills at the same time, as it involves turning off the hob long before your pasta is cooked. It's been going viral on social media as we head into the colder months and energy bills start to climb. A video on TikTok shared by Brightly suggests that using the passive cooking method could reduce the CO2 emissions of cooking pasta by 80% and save energy.
So what do you have to do? The clip states: "First, bring your water to a boil. Once your water reaches boiling point, add your dry pasta and stir to prevent sticking. Cook for two minutes, switch off the heat, and cover.
Then enjoy your perfectly cooked pasta the sustainable way." The idea is that once you've cooked your pasta for two minutes in boiling water, you can cover the pan and turn off the heat, and the hot water will do the rest. You should leave your pasta to stand for as long as the packaging tells you to cook it for, so you should leav.
