#pasta-water

#pasta-water

Slowly cooking the sliced onions in butter and olive oil coaxes out their natural sugars, turning them deeply golden, sweet, and almost jammy. Pasta water and finely grated Parmesan do double duty here, adding seasoning and structure as they emulsify into a silky, cream-free sauce. Finished with a squeeze of lemon and fresh parsley, this easy vegetarian pasta is proof that a luxurious dinner can come from the most basic pantry ingredients.

"It creates a wonderful, velvety, thick sauce without any cream or anything else," she said. This is because the starch that pasta releases into the water when you are cooking helps to emulsify and thicken the sauce. To do this, De Laurentiis recommends reserving at least a cup of the hot pasta water before you drain your pasta. She also says to add a bit of the water to your sauce a time as you stir it into your cooked pasta.