For a one-pan pasta, where the bone broth becomes the sauce:
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Bring enough bone broth to cover the pasta to a simmer in a wide pan. As a guide, use about 500ml of bone broth for 150g of pasta, with a little hot water nearby in case the pan gets too dry.
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Add the pasta and cook, stirring often so it does not stick to the bottom. Keep the heat at a steady simmer.
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When the pasta is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed, the remaining bone broth should look glossy and slightly thickened. Finish with cheese, herbs, butter, olive oil, lemon or black pepper, depending on the dish.
For risotto, the same principle applies more slowly. Warm the bone broth in a separate pan, then add it to the rice a ladleful at a time, stirring and letting each addition absorb before the next. Bone broth does the job stock usually does, but with more natural body.
To cook pasta in bone broth and drain it afterwards, use a larger pot of simmering bone broth as you would with water. Keep the leftover liquid - it now holds pasta starch and works in soup or sauce.
A few notes make the difference:
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Salt carefully. Bone broth is already seasoned, so taste before adding more.
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Use less liquid for one-pan pasta. The point is absorption, not draining away the bone broth at the end.
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Stir more than usual. Less liquid and more starch means pasta can stick if left alone.
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Match the bone broth to the sauce. Tomato, beef, mushrooms and red wine suit beef bone broth. Lemon, herbs, butter, chicken and greens pair with chicken bone broth. If you are still choosing, our guide to how to choose a bone broth covers what to look for.
Bone broth risotto
Risotto is one of the best examples of why the cooking liquid matters. Rice releases starch as it cooks, and the liquid it absorbs becomes part of the finished dish. If that liquid is bone broth, the risotto has depth before you add cheese, butter or herbs.
Start by softening the onion in butter or olive oil. Stir in the rice for a minute, then gradually add warm bone broth, one ladleful at a time. Stir often, letting each addition absorb before adding the next. Finish off the heat with parmesan and a small knob of butter.
Chicken bone broth is the usual choice because it gives savour without taking over. Beef bone broth works in a darker risotto with mushrooms, red wine and thyme, or in slow-cooked beef. The bone broth should make the rice taste more rounded rather than mask the rest of the dish.
A note on salt and leftovers
Cooking with bone broth changes the seasoning. Recipes written for water or unsalted stock often ask for more salt than you need. Taste first. Add salt only when the pasta or rice is nearly done and the bone broth has reduced.
The leftover liquid, now rich in starch and flavour, works again in bone broth soup recipes, sauces or vegetables, so nothing goes to waste. For a sweeter change of pace, there is even a bone broth hot chocolate.
For more ways to cook with bone broth, here is the full set of bone broth recipes. A good bone broth for cooking makes these swaps effortless, and you can buy bone broth in whichever format suits your kitchen. Different bone broths bring out different flavours, so it is worth cooking your way through them.
