Did you know that there are some great tips out there for how to make pasta? I HATE over or undercooked pasta. My husband tends to overcook because he likes it that way and I silently eat it thinking, “this is waaaaaay too squishy”. Here are some tips on how to make pasta perfectly every time!
- Use a pot that’s large enough to accommodate the pasta without crowding. For one pound of pasta, an eight-liter pot is good.
- Use plenty of water. For one pound of pasta, you should use at least six liters of water.
- Add salt to the water. About 1 Tbsp per liter of water. Salt adds flavor to the pasta while cooking that helps to create a well-seasoned dish.
- Bring the water to a full, rolling boil before adding the pasta. One of the main causes for pasta sticking together is that the water had not yet come to a full boil so the pasta wasn’t cooking in hot enough water. When you add pasta to water that has not yet reached the boiling point, it releases natural starches, which act like glue. Since the pasta is simply sitting in the water at the time, the strands stick together.
- Keep the heat up and get it back to a boil quickly. In the case of pasta strands, like spaghetti or linguine, stir the pasta until it has become submerged in the cooking water. When the water reaches boil again, finish cooking uncovered.
- Stir the pasta two or three times throughout the cooking process. Pasta cooks in eight to ten minutes.
- Never add olive oil to the pasta cooking water if you plan on using a sauce over the pasta. The olive oil coats the pasta, and prevents sauce from adhering to it when you’ve put the entire dish together.
- Cook the pasta to the ‘al dente’ state. The only way to judge this is by tasting.
- Never rinse pasta. When you rinse pasta, you’re washing away most of the starches and nutrients that you were seeking to enjoy in the first place. Plus, those starches help to hold the sauce on the pasta.
Maria
Great pasta tips!