We think of cooking pasta as a simple task — putting dried noodles or spaghetti into a large pot of boiling water, and in minutes it is ready. All that bubbling water and the usual kitchen distractions make it is easy to overcook pasta. Cooking pasta perfectly "al dente” requires a few simple steps, techniques and attention.
Imagine a strand of spaghetti as it goes through the cooking process to understand the transformation from dry noodle to sauce-ready perfection. The culinary term for this stage is al dente, which means "to the tooth pasta that is firm, cooked through but not mushy and holds its shape without sticking together. The strand of spaghetti cooks from the outside in. If you pull out a strand after 5 minutes and bite into it, the center will still be tough while the outside has softened.
A few minutes more and the inside has just softened. The spaghetti has a sort of rubber band quality to it. An old testing method suggests throwing spaghetti strands against the refrigerator and if they stick, it is done. (Yes, I have done this a number of times.) But it sticks even if the pasta is overcooked. A better method is to bite into a strand; it should remain chewy but cooked through.
Plan cooking times according to package directions for each specific shape and variety of pasta. Different sizes and shapes of pasta require different cooking times, and you will find similar pastas packaged under different labels will vary in the time required to cook them. Pasta used in a recipe that will require further baking time, like lasagna, should be slightly undercooked.
Timing the cooking of the pasta to finish as the sauce and the rest of the meal is ready helps assure it is perfectly cooked. You don't want pasta sitting and sticking together while you are trying to get the rest of a meal finished. Spaghetti sauce and salad can be made ahead of cooking the pasta. You may want to bring the water to a simmer and keep it covered while preparing the sauce.
How much water to use? The National Pasta Association recommends four to six quarts of water for each pound of dry pasta. If you have ever tried to cook lasagna noodles or manicotti tubes in less than recommended amounts of water you know how important this water factor is to success. The water is brought to a boil before the pasta is added; this means a full rolling boil. It is very important to stir the pasta into the water and return it to a boil. The pasta should be stirred occasionally during cooking to prevent it from sticking together. Think of it like your washing machine; if it is overloaded with clothes, they can't move enough to get clean. In this case, the pasta can't move around to be evenly cooked.
A pasta pot is great to have for cooking large amounts of pasta. The typical pasta cooking pan has a perforated insert that is almost as large as the pan itself. This allows a big batch of pasta to be drained immediately without having to lift and pour a large kettle of boiling water or maneuvering it to a sink.
The pasta association suggests adding 1½ teaspoons salt per gallon of water to be used for cooking pasta. I do not salt the water, as I am conscious of keeping sodium intake to a minimum.
I used to add olive oil in the pasta cooking water, noting that it had a way of clinging to the pasta as it was drained. I have quit the practice for two reasons: Minimizing fat intake and having that hot spaghetti more sauce-ready. The oil tends to keep the pasta from absorbing sauce. The same is true of rinsing after draining. Rinsing stops the cooking process, but it cools the pasta and makes the starchy molecules on the exterior of the pasta less receptive to adhering to the sauce. You will want to rinse, of course, if you are using the pasta for a salad or assembling dishes to be frozen for later use.
Pasta freezes beautifully in plastic bags. It thaws quickly and can be stirred into a sauce for reheating. This is handy for busy cooks looking for shortcuts to preparing dinner.
I hope these little notes on cooking pasta will help you bring al dente dishes to your table soon.
