Ingredients
400g pasta
dried or fresh
4 litres water
1 litre per 100g of pasta
4 salt
1 teaspoon per litre of water
Allergy Advice
Contains Eggs
Contains Gluten
Equipment
- 1 large pot
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to the boil. You will need one litre per 100g of pasta.
- Add 1 teaspoon of salt per litre of water. Return the water to the boil.
- Add pasta to the boiling water. Cooking times depend on the type of pasta you are cooking. For dried pasta, refer to the package for a guide. Fresh pasta requires 2-4 minutes.
- Test the pasta by eating a piece – if it is soft but gives a little resistance when chewed, it is ready. This is referred to in Italian as ‘al dente’, which means ‘to the tooth’.
- As soon as the pasta is cooked, the cooking water should be drained to stop the cooking process.
Notes
Tip
Plenty of rapidly boiling water is essential for fresh, clean tasting pasta.
Tip
Don’t be tempted to omit the salt when cooking pasta – you will end up with bland pasta. The salt also aids the pasta in absorbing water in the cooking process.
Tip
Some people like to add oil to the cooking water to stop the pasta sticking together but what it really does is stop the sauce sticking to the pasta.
Tip
Rinsing pasta after it’s cooked is of no real benefit unless you have cooked it in too little water and the pasta is a starchy mess.
Tip
If you are cooking pasta for pasta salad, make sure you remove it from the cooking water immediately and run it under cold water so the pasta stops cooking and retains its bite.
Tip
Do not break pasta that is too long for the pot. Just sit it in and let the heat ‘melt’ it down until it’s under the surface of the water.
