Italian Phrase
Cuocilo un attimo in acqua bollente.
Meaning
Literally, ‘Cook it for a moment in boiling water.’ The sentence is a concise cooking instruction, often used when you need to blanch, soften, or pre‑cook an ingredient quickly.
When to use
Use this phrase while giving or following a recipe, especially when you want to tell someone to briefly boil something (e.g., pasta, vegetables, or meat). It works well in both casual kitchen chatter and written recipe steps.
✦Grammar Breakdown
Cuocilounattimoinacquabollente
Imperative + pronoun
‘Cuocilo’ is the second‑person singular imperative of ‘cuocere’ with the direct‑object pronoun ‘lo’ attached, meaning ‘cook it.’
Indefinite time expression
‘un attimo’ literally means ‘a moment’; in recipes it signals a very short cooking time.
Prepositional phrase of place
‘in acqua bollente’ uses the preposition ‘in’ + noun phrase to indicate the medium (boiling water) where the action takes place.
Adjective agreement
‘bollente’ agrees in gender and number with ‘acqua’ (feminine singular).
🗨In Conversation
Cuocilo un attimo in acqua bollente.
Cook it for a moment in boiling water.
Va bene, lo faccio subito.
Alright, I’ll do it right away.
✕Common Mistakes
Cuocere un attimo in acqua bollente.
The verb must be in the imperative and the object pronoun ‘lo’ must be attached; ‘Cuocere un attimo’ is infinitive and ungrammatical here.
in acqua bollenti.
‘Acqua’ is singular; the adjective must agree (bollente), not the plural form ‘bollenti’.
Cuocilo un attimo di in acqua bollente.
When indicating a short duration, use ‘un attimo’ without ‘di’; ‘un attimo di’ changes the meaning to ‘a moment of’.
↔Alternatives
Scaldalo brevemente in acqua bollente.
Heat it briefly in boiling water.
Fallo cuocere per un attimo in acqua bollente.
Let it cook for a moment in boiling water.
Mettilo in acqua bollente per un attimo.
Put it in boiling water for a moment.
Cultural Tip
Blanching (sbollentare) is a staple technique in Italian cuisine, used to preserve the bright colour and crisp texture of vegetables or to loosen skins before peeling. Italians often say ‘un attimo’ to stress that the step should be quick – a few seconds to a minute at most. Remember that ‘acqua bollente’ is always feminine, so adjectives like ‘bollente’ stay in the feminine singular form.