Cooking dry pasta right—always

I enrolled myself in a three-day Italian cooking workshop at Enderun Colleges and recruited my good friend, who loves to cook and bake to come with me. (Okay, more like, coerced her to accompany me. Evil laugh insert here.)

FRESH PASTA

Photo courtesy of David Lebovitz.

Among things we learned was how to cook pizza, pasta, and how to make our own focaccia bread from scratch. It was intimidating for first timers like myself—and a self-confessed klutz in the kitchen—but the class was very instructional, helpful, and rewarding. I was proud of myself I got out of my comfort zone to learn something new. (Skill level unlocked, baby!)

Although I haven’t been creating Italian doughs from scratch, what I’d like to share with you are the pointers I took from the class: how to cook dry pasta correctly. Yup, emphasis on “correctly.”

Cooking pasta seems to be the most basic, so it supposed to be easy—a misnomer—just like cooking rice which I thought seemed so easy, but apparently in Japan, it takes twenty years to master. When pasta isn’t cooked right, well, let’s just say it can be downhill from here. You’ll even be too shy to serve the disastrous overcooked (or undercooked!) pasta on a hot date. (Not at all sexy.) But once you’ve learned some tricks, you’ll sure to be nailing al dente every single time; at least most of the time. (That’s “to the tooth” in Italian).

So, here goes:

1. Use a BIG pot.

Most people make the mistake of using small pots for boiling pasta. Your pasta need room and space to move freely; so the poor babies won’t stick and burn. They say one gallon per pound of pasta. Or rule of thumb: have enough water to cover the entire pasta load.

2. We want that “rolling” boil and we mean it.

Boil water and add salt (preferably with coarse salt) when it comes to a “rolling” boil—that state of rapid boiling with bubbles all over, as if there's no tomorrow. Not a lot of people know that this is such an important step. You need to boil the water first, before you add in the pasta.

Another important step, adding salt! How much salt? Until it tastes like the ocean. Adding salt is an essential cooking process, or else you’ll get that slimy pasta texture (which you sure don’t want!). Salt also raises the boiling temperature faster and infuses flavor into your pasta. It’s no longer necessary to add oil to the pasta or into the water; your sauce will simply slide off you pasta!

3. Put your pasta in the pot and bring it back to a boil.

Let it boil without covering the pot. Remember, you have to put everything in at once, so they will cook evenly.

4. Stir and check every now and then.

Important: Begin timing once all the pasta is submerged into the pot. Cook the pasta not longer than it says in the packet. They are usually spot on! To check if they are ready, check by biting a pasta strand. It should be slightly firm to the bite.

For fresh pasta, it takes a shorter period of time for them to cook. A good indication of dry pasta bought in a grocery store is that, it shouldn't take longer than 12 minutes to cook it. Check you packets.

Another trick, the chef showed us was to throw a strand on the wall, to check for its tenderness. If it sticks, then it’s done.

5. Strain, baby, strain!

…in a colander that can quickly drain the water. Rule of thumb: it only takes one minute from al dente to firm, and another minute to turn into a complete utter mush. Best to drain fast!

Don't forget to reserve your pasta cooking water. Most people just throw away that cooking water while draining their pasta. Please leave some and save that precious starchy water. It’s vital as a binder for your pasta sauce and it helps when your pasta starts to stick together; a couple of pasta water will do the trick of untangling. It’s a great moistener, too, than olive oil.

6. Be ready to serve it up once it is done.

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Photo courtesy of The Kitchn.com

More tips:

• When it comes to the sauce, DO NOT overwhelm it with sauce. The noodles are the main star and the sauce should not drown it. The simpler it is, the better.

• Do not attempt to mix together different brands of pasta. Remember, different brands have different cooking time. You don't want a dish mixed with raw and cooked pasta.

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Mismatching pastas with sauce, this mistake is like wearing stripes with plaid. Short pastas are great for chunky sauces, because they allow bits of vegetables and meat to nestle into cavities. Long stringy pastas, like linguine or fettuccine, are best with delicate creamy sauces or thin garlicky ones. Denser pastas with more bite, like rigatoni or ziti, are best with hearty meat sauces.

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The Epicurious Editors,

23 September, 2015

To read more about thing you might be doing wrong with your pasta here.

Enderun Colleges located at 1100 Campus Avenue, McKinley Hill, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City; tel. no. (632) 856.500. www.enderuncolleges.com

#pasta #drypasta #enderuncolleges #aldente