Too good to throw away: Pasta water contains salt and starch, making it an ideal all-rounder in the kitchen, household and even bathroom.
Some things are just too good to throw away. And believe it or not: pasta water is one of them. Because although most of us pour it down the sink immediately after cooking, you can reuse pasta water in the kitchen, in the household and even in beauty care – and achieve great results with it.
So the next time you cook pasta, simply collect the water in a separate saucepan, let it cool and put it in a mason jar in the refrigerator for short-term (!) Use. And then? We show seven ways to continue using pasta water sensibly.
1. As a secret ingredient for pesto and pasta sauces
This trick is ideal because you can use the pasta water right after you cook the pasta. You can add it in small quantities to deglaze when reducing the sauce ingredients (e.g. onions, bacon, vegetables or tomato paste). Why? Pasta water is rich in starch and salt. While the former works wonderfully as a binding agent and gives the sauce a wonderfully creamy consistency, the salt brings a decent flavor to the pasta sauce. 3-4 tablespoons of your pasta water are enough for this.
By the way: If you add a chilli pepper to the water while cooking the noodles, both the noodles and the sauce will be much more aromatic afterwards.
2. For mixing bread and pizza dough
Salt and liquid – both ingredients are essential for a good bread or pizza dough. How good that both are contained in pasta water. So instead of using plain tap water to mix your dough, use pasta water and save yourself the extra salt that you have to add. That is why pasta water is used sensibly!
There are great recipes for baking bread here.
3. Water for flowers
Only the best for your flowers? Perfect, because pasta water contains loads of minerals that your plants are guaranteed to be happy about. Make sure that the water is only lukewarm. You are not doing them a favor with hot water!
4. For steaming
Not all ingredients belong in the water! Many of them get better if you steam them gently – and of course you can also use pasta water here. What is happening there? The food is hung on a metal sieve in a pot of boiling pasta water. This means that they have no direct contact with the water, but still cook well. In this way, vegetables retain their vitamins and remain crisp. Meat and fish, however, stay nice and juicy. Steaming over pasta water also adds some flavor to the ingredients. There are many recipes for steaming here.
5. For soaking legumes
Beans, peas, and lentils are candidates for extensive overnight soaking. This shortens the cooking time and ensures better digestion. Because while the fruits are in the water, the outer skin becomes softer and indigestible carbohydrates are broken down. You can of course just as easily use pasta water instead of normal tap water. Just leave it in the liquid overnight. This gives the fruit a pleasant aroma before cooking.
6. For washing pots and pans
At first glance, it seems absolutely counterproductive to use the cooking water from the pasta to clean pots and pans. But the fact is that the starch in pasta water can also dissolve stubborn dirt. This is much better than resorting to harsh chemicals.
7. For your hair and feet
And because there is practically nothing that you cannot do with pasta water, you can of course also use it in beauty care – and that in the truest sense of the word "from head to toe". For example, some people swear by a footbath in warm pasta water. The pleasant warmth, in combination with the minerals contained in the water, ensures soft, supple feet. After a long day in high heels and the like, the pasta water soothes the pain and swells up swollen feet. Pasta water acts as a treatment pack for damaged hair on the head. Proponents recommend massaging the water into your hair, letting it work for ten minutes, and then washing it off again. Then use the shampoo as usual.