Great way to get pasta right every time

[Sandra Piddock]

Do you find your dried pasta ends up either so solid you could crack your teeth on it or so soggy you hardly taste it on the way down? I found this simple cooking method on the back of a pack of pasta years ago, and it produces great pasta every time, whether it's spaghetti, penne, farfalle, or any of the other funny named ones.

Just bring a large pan of water to the boil, adding salt if required, and a little olive or sunflower oil. Now add the pasta, give it a stir, turn the heat off, and fit a tight lid. Leave for 10 minutes, then drain for perfect pasta. If you're late eating, it won't cook any more, but you may want to rinse it with some boiling water if it's stood for more than 20 minutes, just to reheat it a little.

You can use this method for egg noodles or vermicelli as well - just halve the standing time to 5 minutes.

 

[Arch]

Interesting. I do noodles like that, but not pasta, I should try it.

 

[Berties]

i try to make fresh pasta once a week at home,as it cooks nice,you can also make a batch of pasta dough use half for tag and half for raviolis ,the raviolis can be meat or veggie and freeze well,a bag of oo flour and a pasta machine is a great store cupboard staple

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(where is the "horrified italian ancestors" smilie?)

 

[theclaud]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(where is the "horrified italian ancestors" smilie?)

I was going to write "No, no, no, no, no, no, NO!" But you put it much better.

 

[Shadow]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(where is the "horrified italian ancestors" smilie?)

Indeed! I used to have a friend whose parents were 'straight off the boat' Italians (he never did learn to speak more than a handful of englsih words) and mamma used to make her own. Add salt to boiling water (apparently water boils at a slightly higher temperature with salt but I've never had this confirmed; sounds unlikely to me!), add pasta, never cover it and cook until al dente, usually 7-10 mins depending on whether fresh or dry and quantity. Drain immediately. Serve.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

. ...(apparently water boils at a slightly higher temperature with salt but I've never had this confirmed; sounds unlikely to me!),...

Actually it is true. It also lowers the temperature at which water freezes hence the reason for gritting roads in the winter.
BUT - you need to add something like 29g of salt per litre of water to alter the temperature of boiling water by 0.5C if I recall correctly.

Any impurities in water will also have similar effects. Only pure distilled, de-ionised water boils at exactly 100C and freezes at exactly 0C. Usually it is slightly above for boiling and slight under for freezing. Those there is an odd effect of super-cooling on very pure water where by it does not freeze until exposed to impurities.

 

[Shadow]

Actually it is true. It also lowers the temperature at which water freezes hence the reason for gritting roads in the winter.
BUT - you need to add something like 29g of salt per litre of water to alter the temperature of boiling water by 0.5C if I recall correctly.

Thanks for the edification.

 

[Arch]

I never add salt to the water, and haven't had any complaints. In fact I don't cook with salt at all - I have a box of sea salt crystals in for the very rare times I really need it. I reckon I get all the salt I need in my diet in stuff like bread, noodle seasoning, cheese, etc.

(as a result, I really notice when food is well salted, and am thirsty all night!)

 

[Night Train]

Pan of boiling water with salt to taste (Arch has never complained) and a dribble of olive oil, add pasta and leave on rolling boil stirring to ensure even cooking. Nick a bit to taste when nearly ready to check it is al-dente.
Drain and serve.

 

[Arch]

Well, I did try the cooking off the heat thing, sort of, the other day. Can't remember why but my timings were all to cock, so the water was boiling way too soon, or something. I bunged the spaghetti in, and turned the hotplate off while I did the sauce.

Worked fine - although with my old cooker the hot plate stays hot for ages, so it kept boiling for a while anyway, whereas on gas it would settle instantly. I just left it there until the sauce was ready (that would be, urm, some minutes), and then tested it and it was fine. So I might stick with that method, since it uses minimally less leccy!

 

[lukesdad]

How long you cook your pasta depends on how thin you roll it, and never ever use dried pasta.

 

[Arch]

How long you cook your pasta depends on how thin you roll it, and never ever use dried pasta.

Nonsense. It's good enough for Italians, it's good enough for me.

So, I cooked it the same way again tonight, turned the heat off and let the residual heat in the hotplate cook it. I've noticed something odd.

When I cooked pasta before (almost always spaghetti) I did it at a good rolling boil, in the belief that it stopped it sticking together. Which it did, but there were always a couple of strands that stuck to the bottom of the pan. no matter how much I stirred it round while cooking.

With the turning off the heat method, I've not had a single strand stick to the pan. I can only assume that when the hob is on full blast, there's a hot spot on the bottom of the pan that the pasta sticks to.