How Much Salt Does a Pasta Really Need?
Well-seasoned water is the basis of any delicious pasta . These days, you’ll have a hard time finding a pasta recipe that doesn’t tell you to salt your water for cooking, but aside from the indistinct reference to the sea, few of them bother to tell you how much salt is enough.
Ocean salinity is a known value, averaging about 3.5%, but recipes rarely extrapolate it to actual measurements. Seawater contains roughly 35 grams of dissolved salt per liter, and while tap water contains a little salt, that’s roughly what you need to add to simulate salty depth. If 35 grams is a lot, then that’s two tablespoons of table salt or a quarter cup of Diamond Crystal kosher salt per liter of water, to be precise.
Anyone who has accidentally swallowed a couple of sips of real seawater can tell you that 35 grams per liter is too much salt, although most of it goes down the drain. If so, why sea water is a benchmark for seasoning for pasta? Perhaps this is because most people do not have a strong enough gustatory memory of seawater to accurately replicate it; they just know it’s pretty salty. Telling cooks to strive for something “salty like the sea” ensures not only that they add appreciable amounts of salt, but that they are actually trying to taste the water before tossing it into the pasta.
Salting to taste is an important culinary skill, but swallowing boiling salt water from a tasting spoon sucks. This is where recommendations come in handy. I like to estimate the amount of salt based on the size of the pan I’m using, rather than per liter of water, because it requires less arithmetic. (Also, I live in America, the land of the quart and the home of the brave.) One heaping tablespoon of table salt is perfect for a nearly full three- or four-liter saucepan, and I’ve found that my 8-liter standard pot can hold as much as a quarter of a glass. These amounts also apply to Morton Kosher Salt, but Diamond Crystal devotees should double them.
Of course, the exact amount of salt depends on the size of your pot and the food you’re preparing, especially if you plan on using pasta water to mix the sauce. Penne puttanesca will probably require less salt than, say, aglio e olio spaghetti. Use common sense – you can always add more.