How to cook pasta? All the tips you should know

Pasta can be one of the foods that we consume the most in our entire lives; There are countless dishes that use this ingredient, even as a companion to vegetables, fish, meat or chicken.

There are many fans who owe their love to pasta; And although it is a dish that we can prepare in the comfort of our home, the way in which you prepare it will depend on the success or failure of the recipe.

Do not think wrong, it is not as difficult as it really looks, you just have to carefully follow each of the steps. For this reason, I leave you the best tricks that you can use.

Amount of water to cook pasta

This is one of the most important steps in the kitchen; Keep in mind that you must put 1 liter of water for every 100 grams that you add of pasta, in order that it can rehydrate well and prevent it from sticking.

Remember that the pot must have enough capacity, since the pasta, as it cooks, always increases in volume. For this same reason, I recommend that the water does not cover more than 2/3 of the pot in the world.

Amount of salt to cook pasta

The best proportion of salt is 12-15 grams for every liter you add of water.

Remember that you must add the salt when the water is just starting to boil, it is very important that you do not add it before, because salt water can only boil at a higher temperature than estimated, which would take a long time to do the cooking. boiling.

When is pasta added to water?

You should add the pasta once the salt has completely dissolved. Add it all at once and immediately begin stirring so it doesn’t stick.

Keep the heat very high, just until the water begins to boil; Then you can lower it a little to avoid overflowing, but do not lower it too much, remember that it must continue to boil.

Keep in mind that during the entire time the pasta is cooking, the pot must be uncovered and you must always stir to prevent it from sticking to the bottom or side of it.

Is oil added or not?

Many people prefer not to add anything and leave everything as it is, but I recommend that if you cook the type of pasta that is dry, especially those that are long or fresh pasta, add a thin thread of extra virgin olive oil to the water; this in order to avoid sticking during the entire cooking process.

Ideal cooking time

The healthiest and most recommended thing is that you follow the previous instructions that the container brings to the letter, but it is always good that you try the pasta 1 minute before the time suggested by the brand, so you can verify that it will not pass.

It is very important that you measure the cooking time from the moment the water began to boil, for this reason, always keep the heat high until that moment, in order to avoid the pasta being in the water for a long time.

How to get pasta al dente?

If you want to get a pasta al dente, in addition to being aware of the cooking time, just at the moment when it presents the consistency you want, you must turn off the heat immediately and add a glass of cold water, this in order to be able to stop the cooking.

I recommend that you always strain the pasta when it is al dente, as it absorbs a smaller amount of water, which means that it will be more digestible and tasty. In addition, in case you want to prepare it to be gratin in the oven or you want to mix it later with a sauce in the pan, it is better that it is a little raw, so you can continue cooking quietly.

How to cook pasta with sauce?

I recommend that if you have prepared a sauce to be mixed with the pasta in the pan, it is good that you leave a little of the water from the previous cooking, so that the sauce and the pasta can come together better.

In case you use a sauce that must be added on top, such as the typical Bolognese, first season the pasta with a little of the sauce, and what is left over, put it in a sauce boat (I recommend that you do it when it is quite hot); do this so that people can serve themselves more comfortably.

If you add all of the sauce to the pasta, you run the risk of it being completely on the bottom or that the pasta absorbs more than it should and ends up a bit dry.

How to maintain the temperature of the pasta?

Take into account that pasta cools very easily, so I advise you to heat the dishes and the source so that the temperature can be maintained for a long time. For example, you can strain the pasta on top of them, the boiling water will do its job on these kitchen tools.

On the other hand, take them with great care, dry them with kitchen paper and they will be ready for you to use.

The correct way to add cheese to pasta

Remember that the cheese should be added when the pasta has absorbed some of the sauce. I recommend that you put it on the table, in a separate container. The most ideal is to grate it just at the moment, so that it does not dry out and melts with the sauce and pasta.

Salad pasta

In this case, it is necessary that it be al dente, because if it is not, the pasta will stick and absorb too much oil when you are seasoning it.

If you are going to use cold pasta, once you have strained it, immediately run it under cold water; In this way, you will be able to cut the cooking cycle and remove a little of the starch (this is the cause of the pasta sticking).

Now, in case you are not going to season it at the moment, add a splash of oil so that it does not stick.

You already know how to cook pasta correctly! Go and surprise your guests.