How To Cook Pasta
Cooking pasta is easy, but does require care to achieve the best results.
Difficulty Level: easy Time Required: 35 minutes
Here's How:
- Fill a pot with one quart of water per serving of pasta (1/4 pound, 100 g) you plan to make, and set it to boil.
- When it comes to a boil add 1 tablespoon of coarse salt (a little less if it's fine) per quart of water.
- Check the pasta package for cooking time. No time? See below.
- When the water comes back to a rolling boil, add the pasta and give it a good stir to separate the pieces.
- Stir occasionally to keep the pasta pieces from sticking to each other or the pot.
- A minute before the cooking time is up fish out a piece of pasta and check for doneness. No time?
- Fresh pasta (fettuccine, tagliatelle, lasagna) cooks quickly, 3-5 minutes.
- Thin dry pasta (spaghettini, shells, rotini) cooks in 6-9 minutes.
- Thick walled pasta (penne, ziti, spaghetti, tortiglioni, etc.) cooks in 12-15 minutes.
- You want an al dente, or chewy texture -- not flab. Taste, or break open a piece of pasta.
- If you see a thin white line or white dot(s) in the middle of the broken piece it's not done yet.
- Test again, and as soon as the broken piece si a uniform translucent yellow, drain the pasta.
- Sauce the pasta per the recipe and serve it.
Tips:
- To better wed the pasta to the sauce, put the sauce in a broad skillet and heat it while the pasta cooks.
- Drain the pasta when it's just shy of done and stir it into the skillet before the colander stops dripping completely.
- Toss the pasta and sauce over high heat for a minute or
two, until the pasta is done.
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