Spaghetti carbonara is a popular Italian dish (Image: (Image: Getty))

Italian chef reveals five ways you're making pasta wrong

Michelin-starred chef Angela Hartnett has revealed the common mistakes she sees people making when cooking Italian dishes, including the use of the wrong type of pasta

by · Daily Record

Michelin-starred chef Angela Hartnett, alongside actor and cookbook author Stanley Tucci, have dished out a masterclass on the pasta faux pas that many home cooks are guilty of. Angela, who helms a renowned Italian restaurant in London, drew from her rich Italian heritage to highlight common mistakes made outside Italy.

On The Dish podcast, when co-host Nick Grimshaw probed about their biggest gripes with the public's "hot takes" on Italian cuisine, Angela didn't hold back: "Cream in carbonara is one."

A proper Italian carbonara, she explained, should be crafted with eggs and cheese, which blend with the heat of the pasta to create a creamy sauce without the need for actual cream.

Angela Hartnett (Image: (Image: Getty))

Stanley Tucci chimed in with his own culinary bugbear: "too much sauce". Other blunders Angela listed include opting for spaghetti over tagliatelle in bolognese, reaching for pre-grated Parmesan, and the cardinal sin of pre-cooking pasta.

Reflecting on her younger days, Angela recounted an encounter with pre-grated Parmesan that left her aghast: "I remember when I was at college, someone having pre-grated parmesan in one of those plastic tubs and I was like such a snob."

The notion of pre-cooked pasta being refreshed in cold water also drew disbelief, with Stanley expressing his dismay: "No, no, no."

The star of The Devil Wears Prada has recently completed filming for a travel series around Italy titled Tucci: The Heart of Italy. This is a sequel to his award-winning show Searching for Italy, where he journeyed across the country tasting various cuisines and delving into the nation's cultures.

Stanley grew up in an Italian family, with both parents hailing from southern Italy. He also spent a year residing in Florence during the 1970s.

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