Foodies turn to Ina Garten (aka the Barefoot Contessa, the Queen of Chambray—dealer’s choice) for everything from cooking tips to hosting hacks to premade desserts. (Yeah, she sells cake on Goldbelly, ICYMI.) Now, there’s yet another reason to worship her culinary prowess. She recently took to Instagram to share a simple, time-saving trick that you’ll be shocked you never thought of before.
Ina Garten’s Simple, Time-Saving Hack for Cooking Vegetables with Pasta
The Barefoot Contessa does it again
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Published Apr 30, 2025
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“Spaghetti carbonara is classic Italian comfort food, but like so much comfort food, it’s often incredibly rich,” Garten wrote in the video’s caption. “I made my carbonara a little lighter by adding lots of fresh, seasonal green vegetables. Instead of blanching them in a separate pot, I cook them quickly in the same boiling water with the pasta. So easy!!”
If you’re no stranger to one-pot pasta, this tip should feel totally natural. If you ask me, staring at a pot of water is the most (and perhaps the only) tedious part of preparing store-bought noodles at home. Depending on your burner, it takes seemingly forever to reach a rolling boil. Why torture yourself by doing it twice?
Personally, I’ll be stealing the hack and her lightened-up riff on carbonara, TYVM. “I’m making spring green spaghetti carbonara,” she says in the video. “I’ve cooked spaghetti for about eight minutes, which is less than al dente. First, I’m going to take a little bit of pasta water out. Now what I’m going to do is take the spring green vegetables—julienned snow peas and sliced asparagus—and I’m just going to finish cooking the pasta and the vegetables together.” She then drains cooked pancetta, prepares the cream sauce in a separate bowl and combines everything with scallions, chives, lemon and plenty of salt and pepper.
In case you feel like trying the recipe for yourself, she shared the step-by-step instructions on her website. Good looking out, Ina.
