Giada divulges the chefs secret to plating pasta like a pro!

Have you ever been served pasta at a restaurant (looking at you, Giada Vegas!) that was absolutely picture-perfect? Or maybe you’ve come across some food-centric Instagram feeds that feature plates of pasta with perfect twirls and nests of spaghetti and fettuccine. Giada’s letting us in on the chef secret for how to plate pasta like a pro – and it’s probably a lot easier than you think!

The best tool around? A meat-carving fork. Like Giada mentions in the video above, you might even have one of these buried in a drawer without realizing it: they’re pretty common in knife kits or even BBQ tool sets. Those two prongs are perfect for twirling pasta into a perfect little tower! Just use a spoon to hold it in place, then stick the landing right onto your serving plate.

If you don’t have a meat carving fork, a pair of tongs will suffice! You won’t have an end result that has as much height, but you still get those nice twirls for a more refined looking plate of pasta. You can either spin the tongs like Giada does in the video, or you can even hold the tongs in place while you spin the plate and slowly release the tongs.

Pro-tip: if you’re really committed to plating your pasta with some serious height, add a little extra cheese to the pasta sauce and make sure you plate it when it’s hot. That cheese will act like a (delicious!) glue and keep it all held together.