Making Pasta? These Cooking Tips Will Help You Perfect It!

If you have set your mind on cooking pasta at home for your loved ones, I hope you know that a lot can go wrong during the process. To avoid that blunder in your kitchen use these simple and easy to remember cooking tips. Your technque will be perfected and the guests or family members will be super impressed!

Pick The Right Pasta Shape For The Sauce You're Using

You cannot just throw in any kind of pasta into any kind of sauce. Shocking right? Yes well if you want to toss your pasta in a heavy sauce like bolognese or ragù, stick to penne or perciatelli that trap the sauce, as this perfects the ratio, the balance if taste in every bite. If you are using more delicate sauces like pesto or garlic, long pasta like spaghetti is the best option for the same. Basically if you want a lot of sauce, go with shapes with lots of nooks and crannies to trap the sauce.

Large Pot Is Betteer To Avoid Starchy Pasta

Try to cook pasta in a large pot and use at least four quaters of water for every pound of pasta you use up. Why? Pasta releases a lot of starch while cooking, which makes it slimy if there is not enough water.

Water Should Be Properly Boiling Before Folding In Pasta

There should be a lot of bubbles, that is how your boiling water should be before you decide on putting the pasts in it. Water at this temperature helps "set" the outside of the pasta and prevent it from sticking. If the water is not at the perfect tempertaure then your pasts tends to stick and becomes mushy.

Salt Seasoning

Always and mind you always! Season every gallon of water you use with one tablespoon of salt. It does seem to be a lot but remember that a lot of it will get drained out. Use kosher salt, not table salt. Why? Table salt makes your water too salty.

Don't Miss: Easy, Scrumptious Recipes For The Pasta Soul

Disregard Cooking Time On The Packaging

Packaging instructions are great but may not fit your cooking. Sometimes it takes longer to cook, but more often than not it takes less time than stated. What you have to do is that keep checking the pasta a few minutes before what the package tells you to. Take a piece out, let it cool off for a second, and taste it. It should be al dente (tender but still has a bite), not completely soft.

Stir The Pasta During First Minute Of Cooking

Many pasta's have a lot of starch oozing out during the first minute of boiling which means that the pasta has all the tendency to stick together. To prevent the same, constantly stir your pasta for the first minute, and after that you can ease up and stir it every 30 seconds or so.

Don't Add Oil To Pasta Water

Even if you add oil to your pasta, no it will stick stick together. You have had it all wrong! The only way to make sure your pasta doesn't clump together is to stir it and keep it at boiling. In fact, if you add oil to the water, the sauce that you will use will not stick to the pasta properly.

Never Rinse Pasta Before Cooking

If you rinse your pasta in water, it removes all of the starch and results in sauce that slides right off your noodles. You rinse it only if making a stir-fry or pasta salad. That is because we do not want the stir fry or salad to stick to the pan. Also, If you're not using your pasta that very moment then toss it in a tablespoon of olive oil to prevent it from sticking together.

Reserve A Cup Of Pasta Water Before Straining

Pasta water is helpful in thickening the sauce. If the sauce is too thin then it helps and makes it glossy. Chefs use this technique all the time and they often call it "liquid gold".

Add Pasta To Saunce Not Vice-Versa

Once your pasta is done, add it to your sauce. The pasta will continue cooking in the sauce and absorb the flavour, and it will also get evenly coated.

Recommended Video