Cooking the perfect bowl or plate of pasta is certainly not nearly as easy as it sounds. You may ask, “boil some water, add some salt, pour the pasta in, and wait ten minutes – what’s so hard about that?” While the process itself may not be difficult, keeping your pasta firm and flavorful is a challenge! The goal is to keep your pasta firm enough so that it doesn’t fall apart, but also cooked thoroughly enough so that it can absorb all of the delicious aromas and flavors of your sauce of choice! With this method, your pasta won’t be the meal; it will effectively compliment all of the wonderful flavors and become an integral component of the meal!
1. Boil Water In Large Pot!
Use a large pot to cook your pasta. While it may seem like overkill, a larger pot will give the pasta room to breath and cook more evenly.
2. Add Salt!
Salt is necessary to flavor your pasta and to prevent it from sticking and falling apart. Add at least one tablespoon of salt to the pot before it boils to ensure your pasta has some flavor.
3. Add Pasta & Stir!
Once you add your pasta to the pot of boiling water, give it a few good stirs to ensure every piece of pasta is fully submerged in water. Stir again every so often to prevent sticking!
4. Cooking Time!
Cook your pasta one minute less than the “Al Dente” cooking time suggested by your brand. We’ll get back to this in the next step!
5. Drain & Add!
Drain your pasta in a colander and immediately add it to your sauce! Allowing your pasta to cook its final minute in your sauce of choice will help it to absorb all of the sauce’s tasty flavors!
The three key aspects of this method are salt, cooking time, and adding your pasta to a sauce of your choice! With this method, your pasta will be perfect every single time!
I understand your method of cooking the pasta in the boiling process, but how about if I want to make baked macaroni with crumbled sausage in marinara sauce, cooked in the oven with parmesan cheese on top until it browns a bit. What do you suggest as the process for continuing after boiling ?
When I cook pasta after it is done I take a fork and pull it up and out of the bowl and let the moisture burn off. No water in the plate.
OK, Are you saying after pasta is done drain the pasta then add sauce to the colander right away would that just waste it the sauce not sure is that you mean.
Once cooked to the texture I want I drain the pasta in a colander and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process. Then I add a touch of high grade olive oil and mix it into the pasta. I rinse the pasta until it is room temperature and then drain and fluff to get moisture out. I don’t rinse so long as to allow pasta to get cold so that it won’t cool the sauce. I make extra pasta so I can use with left over sauce. To reheat pasta just dip real fast into boiling water and then drain and fluff. Heat sauce separately as well. I reheat the sauce first then reheat pasta. My wife uses the microwave to reheat the pasta as well, but I think that over cooks the pasta.