Before starting consider that different types of pasta will cook in a different way. Ribbed pasta (like rigatoni) will attract the dressing better, but a non-ribbed pasta on the other hand will cook more evenly.
Take a saucepan and fill it with water and bring it to boil. Its quantity is not a small detail. Pasta needs to be free to move, so a lot of water is necessary: the general rule is 1 liter every 100g. With 500g of pasta you would need 5 liters.
When the water is boiling add some salt. Don't add it before, as it will slow down the boiling process. Again, there's a rule of thumb to follow: 10g of salt every liter of water. A little less if you're going to use salty sauces.
You're probably thinking this is the part where you add oil to the water. Wrong and useless: if in the end the pasta comes out of the water all stuck together in one piece, next time use more water and buy some, at least decent quality of pasta.
Wait for 30 seconds for the salt to dissolve and pour the pasta. If you're using spaghetti, use your hands to push them down instead of breaking them. Make sure you don't touch the boiling water!
Pasta is at room temperature so it will make the boiling stop. This is a very delicate stage: you have to be quick in bringing back the boil, by covering the pan and turning up the heat. When the water is bubbling again, let the steam go out and turn down the heat, but keep it lively.
Stir the pasta a couple of times while it's cooking so it won't stick to the bottom of the pan. For how long should it cook? A great underestimated reference is the packet itself: there you'll find the number of minutes necessary to get pasta al dente (dente means tooth). Al dente means not too soft nor too raw.
Al dente is how pasta should be in the end. Don't overdo, for at least three reasons: pasta won't stop cooking until it's cold, and long before you've finished eating it, it will be like chewing gum; if it's too cooked your stomach will take longer to process it. And finally: this is the way the do it in Italy. Once you become an al dente expert, you can taste it to know when it's time to drain it, using the packet as general guide.
When it's time, have the colander ready in the sink, and drain the pasta. Get rid of all the water (in some cases you might still need a little bit of it. Add the pasta to the sauce, if it's in another pan, and let it go for 2-3 minutes, until everything is well mixed.
However, if you're preparing a pasta salad, or your lunchbox for tomorrow, you'll need to stop the cooking process by pouring cold water on the colander after the pasta is drained.
Take a saucepan and fill it with water and bring it to boil. Its quantity is not a small detail. Pasta needs to be free to move, so a lot of water is necessary: the general rule is 1 liter every 100g. With 500g of pasta you would need 5 liters.
When the water is boiling add some salt. Don't add it before, as it will slow down the boiling process. Again, there's a rule of thumb to follow: 10g of salt every liter of water. A little less if you're going to use salty sauces.
You're probably thinking this is the part where you add oil to the water. Wrong and useless: if in the end the pasta comes out of the water all stuck together in one piece, next time use more water and buy some, at least decent quality of pasta.
Wait for 30 seconds for the salt to dissolve and pour the pasta. If you're using spaghetti, use your hands to push them down instead of breaking them. Make sure you don't touch the boiling water!
Pasta is at room temperature so it will make the boiling stop. This is a very delicate stage: you have to be quick in bringing back the boil, by covering the pan and turning up the heat. When the water is bubbling again, let the steam go out and turn down the heat, but keep it lively.
Stir the pasta a couple of times while it's cooking so it won't stick to the bottom of the pan. For how long should it cook? A great underestimated reference is the packet itself: there you'll find the number of minutes necessary to get pasta al dente (dente means tooth). Al dente means not too soft nor too raw.
Al dente is how pasta should be in the end. Don't overdo, for at least three reasons: pasta won't stop cooking until it's cold, and long before you've finished eating it, it will be like chewing gum; if it's too cooked your stomach will take longer to process it. And finally: this is the way the do it in Italy. Once you become an al dente expert, you can taste it to know when it's time to drain it, using the packet as general guide.
When it's time, have the colander ready in the sink, and drain the pasta. Get rid of all the water (in some cases you might still need a little bit of it. Add the pasta to the sauce, if it's in another pan, and let it go for 2-3 minutes, until everything is well mixed.
However, if you're preparing a pasta salad, or your lunchbox for tomorrow, you'll need to stop the cooking process by pouring cold water on the colander after the pasta is drained.
About the Author:
Andrea is keen on cooking. Cheese and Pears is his blog about Italian food. If you think you know more about pasta after reading this article, start with an easy pasta recipe.
No comments:
Post a Comment