Grains & starch · Pa

Pasta

Durum semolina · 1% salted water

Per 100 g

371 kcal Energy

13 g Protein

74.7 g Carbs

1.5 g Fat

3.2 g Fibre

Contains gluten GLUTEN GI 47

Let’s cook with it → Invent something with it

What it is for

They build structure. Starch granules swell in hot water, burst, and weave a net that traps the liquid — most of what you call body comes from here. Wheat does one extra job on top: gluten.

Where it catches you out

Starch does nothing before 62 °C, and acid cuts the chains during a long boil. Think about your thickener after the heat and before the acid.

The knack

The water should be 1% salt, and save a ladle of it: that starchy water is what binds sauce to pasta.

Storage and health

How to keep it, and who it suits.

Keeping it

Dry pasta keeps airtight for two years; cooked pasta lasts 3-5 days refrigerated, or two once it is dressed with sauce.

Contains gluten

Pasta is made from durum wheat semolina. Gluten-free pasta made from maize, rice or pulse flour is a separate product.

Allergen: GLUTEN

Glycaemic index

47 — glucose is taken as 100. Below 55 is low, 56–69 medium, 70 and above high. The number says nothing about portion: at the same index, twice the amount is twice the load.

Row in the table: White spaghetti, boiled, mean of foods

Atkinson et al., Am J Clin Nutr 2021

What it works with

Pairings, and the reason for each

"They go well together" is not an explanation. Every pairing below has a chemical or structural mechanism under it.

Butter →

The amylose leached into the cooking water acts as a hydrocolloid that stabilises a fat-in-water emulsion. That is why a spoon of pasta water turns butter and cheese into a sauce instead of a greasy slick.

Yoghurt →

The acid-set casein gel clings to the starch-roughened pasta surface; hydrogen bonding between exposed amylose and the protein gel is what makes it adhere rather than slide off.