Pasta enthusiasts are continuously growing all over the world. The reasons? Maybe it’s the delicious taste, or the infinite variety of shapes, or the endless possibilities to combine it with practically everything, or even the fact that it’s just so quick and easy to make. Before you try any of the numerous recipes that we propose on this site, have in mind that however simple, pasta cooking has certain basic rules that need to be followed.
Here are our seven Golden Rules for cooking perfect pasta, every time:
- Make sure that you use plenty of water to boil the pasta (1 litre of water for every 100 grams of pasta).
- Bring the water to a hard boil before you add salt (around 10 grams of salt for every litre of water). Then pour in the pasta and return to boil.
- Stir occasionally to prevent it from sticking and continue to boil, without a lid.
- Don’t over-cook. The pasta should be “al dente”, which means it should be “firm to the bite”, yet cooked through. It’s better to taste the pasta before draining it.
- When it’s ready drain the pasta but don’t rinse it with cold water. The pasta should be hot when mixed with the sauce. (If you are using the pasta for cold salads you may rinse it with water or drip on a little oil to prevent it from sticking while it cools).
- Timing is important. The sauce and pasta should be ready at the same time. In many recipes such as carbonara, bad timing would result in bad pasta. Mix the pasta with the sauce as soon as it is ready. Leaving the pasta on its own might result in sticking.
- With very few exceptions, pasta should be served immediately. According to an Italian saying, “The guest should wait for the pasta, not the pasta for the guest!”.
