Properly salting your pasta water makes it so the pasta doesn’t absorb as much water and it makes the temperature of the water hotter. Therefore, it doesn’t take as long to cook.
How To Cook Pasta Like a Pro
To cook your pasta just right, you want it cook it al dente. This means that you want to be able to bite it without it crunching, but you also don’t want it to be too flabby and still toothsome.
When cooking pasta, use salt as mentioned above and then be sure to stir it regularly so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan or to each other. When you think the pasta is done, take a bite of the noodle and try it to be sure.
Choose Your Vessel
It’s important to use a saucepan or soup pot that is large enough to hold your pasta as well as the pasta water to cook it. And there should still be ample room around the top for the contents to be stirred without overflowing. I like to use a soup pot when cooking the longer noodles like spaghetti, or a saucepan when cooking smaller noodles like macaroni.
Always Bring The Water To A Complete Boil
When cooking pasta, be sure to always bring the water to a complete and rolling boil before adding the noodles. This will give you the best results and will help keep you from having mushy and flabby pasta in the end.
Stir The Water When You First Add The Noodles
The noodles should be added at the point that the water has become a rolling boil. The noodles should be stirred when they’re first added to keep them from sticking together.And they should be stirred throughout the process to keep them from sticking. There’s nothing more frustrating than finding out your noodles have turned into one big blob.
Taste The Noodles Sooner Than Later
If you think the noodles are done, go ahead and carefully remove one from the boiling water and try it. If it doesn’t crunch, it is likely done.
Notes
What is al dente? Al dente translated in Italian literally means “to the tooth”. When cooked to the point of al dente, pasta should be tender but still firm when you bite into it. It should not be mushy. Mushy pasta has passed the point of al dente.
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