Molto al dente is a preference for me with rice and pasta. I don't like pasta too soft.
And there are some pastas and the purpose they are put to where al dente is madatory. Take for example manicotti. If you intend to stuff manicotti shells, they will break apart, if they are cooked to softness. You can only stuff a manicotti shell when it is firm enough to pack in the ingredients you wish to fill them with. Afterwards, the manicotti will likely be covered with a sauce and cooked further, sometimes, browning and crisping parts of it. And that's part of the cooking game with manicotti.
Egg noodles made from scratch are another matter. These usually are part of a soup and will be cooked to softness, regardless, unless you are critical about when you add them to the soup. The same is true of udon noodles and possibly, ramen noodles as well. Al dente is probably less easy to achieve in these cases. But the question was timing, wasn't it? So, two aspects must be observed, 1) how long to cook a pasta from the start of immersing it in boiling water and 2) when to add it to a broth or soup. And that 2nd timing often applies to when certain vegetables and meats are added, to keep them semi-crisp when served. Often, there is no set number of minutes, but a good feel for when and how long, from experience.
