Skillet alfredo with garlic, peas and basil, cooked by the low-water pasta method

Put the dried pasta in the pot and pour water over it only until it is completely submerged. No extra is necessary.

Set the pot on high heat and stir immediately so the pasta does not stick.

After 30 to 60 seconds, put a thermometer in the water. At 180F or above, start a timer for the package time and the desired doneness; five minutes for macaroni.

Cook, stirring occasionally, until the timer goes, then drain. Half a pound of pasta takes six minutes and 28 seconds this way against thirteen minutes and 32 seconds by the traditional method.

Why it works: pasta needs enough heat, enough water and enough time. Traditionally that is 212F and about ten times the weight of the pasta in water, so 2,270 grams for 227 grams of pasta.

180F is the lowest temperature at which proteins denature and starches absorb water, so that is the lower bound for the heat.

Pasta absorbs around 1.6 to 1.8 times its weight, so the lower bound for water is 409 grams for 227 grams of pasta, against 2,270 traditionally.

Less water gives a much higher starch pasta water, which binds sauces like cacio e pepe, aglio e olio and alfredo.

Use less salt than for a full pot, because most of the water and its salt ends up inside the pasta.

Stir several times in the first few minutes, because the pasta is touching in so little water. The method is not for fresh pasta, which has less structure and absorbs far more.

For the alfredo: put the penne in a skillet at the sink and cover it with water, set it on high heat and add a pinch of salt.

Stir, and after 60 seconds the water should be at 180F. Set a timer for eight minutes and stir occasionally.

The penne should be slightly underdone. Pour a little of the pasta water off but keep a good bit in the pan.

Add the butter off the back of the stove and stir to emulsify it with the water, then add the Parmesan with the heat still on and stir vigorously until it incorporates and turns creamy.

Add the garlic, peas and basil and keep stirring. If the Parmesan goes stringy the heat is too low; turn it up and keep stirring until it melts down.

Finish with a couple of cranks of black pepper and serve.