How do you reduce starch in pasta?

Answer 1

Instead of using a butter or cream sauce, season with a touch of salt and fresh herbs and a splash of olive oil. Or, you can use fresh ground black pepper and some lemon juice. Also, lemon zest can go a very long way in perking up a lot of pasta. My personal favorite is lemon zest, a touch of lemon juice, black pepper, chives and just a pinch of dill. Delicious.

Answer 2

You cannot change the nutritional components of a food product, but if you are concerned about the starchy coating that pastas often have and which may cause them to be sticky after cooking, there are things you can do. The most popular method is to pour a small amount (one to two tablespoons, depending on the diameter of the pot) of olive or vegetable oil into the pot as you are heating the water. The oil will float on the surface of the water and when the pasta is put into the pot it will pass through the oil giving it a slightly slick coating.

Some chefs will recommend that you not use this method as it makes it more difficult for the sauce to adhere to the pasta. For the same reason, they may suggest not rinsing the pasta after cooking. Instead, they will check the pasta for doneness, drain it, and put the sauce into the empty pot and quickly, but gently, stir the pasta into it. This does not allow it to sit and the pieces to become stuck to one another. If you want to save leftover plain pasta, and it is sometimes stuck together, you may want to give it a light coating of oil or melted butter (depending on what you plan to do with it) before storing it.