How to cook pasta properly


How to cook pasta properly
Here is some advice for pasta that's properly cooked and doesn't stick.
1.16 M 3.7/5 (2,824 reviews)
Grade this recipe:
Keywords:
Last modified on: July 18th 2019
For 100 g, you will need:

Change these quantities to make:
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 15 min.
Cooking: 7 min.
All in all: 25 min.
When should you start or finish this recipe?
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time

Step by step recipe


Stage 1 - 10 min.
How to cook pasta properly
Boil a large pan of water.

When boiling, salt with a tablespoon of coarse salt for 2 litres water.

A large quantity of water is needed to prevent pasta from sticking on the bottom of the pan.

If you like precise numbers, here is the 1-10-100 rule: 1 litre water, to 10 g salt, to 100 g pasta.

Stage 2 - 1 min.
How to cook pasta properly
When water comes back to the boil, add pasta all at once.

Stage 3
How to cook pasta properly
For cooking time, very important, here is a tip: If you use a pasta box or bag where you can read in Italian, cook the exact indicated time (here 6 minutes).

Stage 4
How to cook pasta properly
Otherwise, decrease 1 minute from the indicated cooking time (here 12 - 1 = 11 minutes).

So you will be sure to have perfectly cooked pasta, call by the Italians, who are the world masters of pasta since Marco Polo, "al dente"

Stage 5 - 7 min.
How to cook pasta properly
Stir and leave to cook uncovered for the time indicated on the pasta packet (usually 8-9 minutes, but it depend on type of pasta).

The best way is to taste near end of cooking. It's very important not to overcook pasta, otherwise it becomes too soft and unpleasant.

Italians, pasta masters since Marco Polo, call this ideal texture "al dente".

During cooking, stir once or twice to prevent pasta sticking.

Stage 6 - 2 min.
How to cook pasta properly
After this time, taste, and if it's OK, remove pasta from water immediately and transfer to a strainer to drain, or pour the whole panful into a colander or strainer.

Chefs will tell you that it's better to remove pasta from water, instead of pouring everything into a strainer, because this keeps the gluten (released during cooking) in the water instead of on the pasta, and it's this gluten that makes it sticky.

Stage 7 - 1 min.
How to cook pasta properly
When pasta is drained, discard cooking water and put pasta back into the pan.

Stage 8 - 1 min.
How to cook pasta properly
If you plan to use pasta right away, it's ready.

If not, add a tablespoon of olive oil, mix well, cover and leave to stand, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

Note: because it's kept hot and covered, pasta will continue cooking, so you should not keep it too long.
Remarks
It's quite surprising to see how many ways of preparing and serving pasta there are, and at the same time how great a simple pasta dish can be: a pan of spaghetti, a dash of olive oil, some grated Parmesan, what more do we need? hummm, oh yes, a good glass of Italian wine perhaps...
Keeping: Several days in the fridge, in a closed jar.
Source: Home made.
Nutritional information
Proteins (gr)Carbohydrates (gr)Fats (gr)Energy value (in k-calories)Energy value (in k-joules)
Whole recipe10 RDI=5 %70 RDI=6 %0320 RDI=20 %1,340 RDI: 20 %
Per 100 g1 RDI=1 %8 RDI=1 %040 RDI=2 %170 RDI: 2 %
The % figures are calculated in relation to the Recommended Dietary Intake , or RDI of 2,000 k-calories (or 8,400 k-joules) per day for a woman Change to a man
Possible allergens in this recipe: Gluten, egg
How much will it cost?
  • For 100 g : 0.15 €

Change currency:

Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
This recipe uses (among others)
Other recipes you may also like
Candied grapefruit peel
Candied grapefruit peel
Not really a dessert, more a kind of sweet. After soakiing, strips of grapefruit skin are cooked very slowly to conservethem in sugar. It's a real treat with coffee at the end of a meal.
December 20th 2018378 K 14 1 day 1 hour 25 min.
How to prepare spinach
How to prepare spinach
For most people (and me most of all), spinach brings back bad memories of canteens... But, well prepared, it's a fine and delicate vegetable which goes remarkably well with scrambled eggs, fish, and many another things. Here are two ways of preparing it.
June 5th 20153.39 M3.5 1 hour 9 min.
Panna cotta
Panna cotta
Panna cotta is an Italian dessert which means "cooked cream". It's a set vanilla cream, similar to blancmange, which is frequently served with other things like fruit coulis (fruit purée), caramel etc.. Here is the basic panna cotta recipe.
February 21th 2011354 K4.3 25 min.
How to make tart cases
How to make tart cases
It's not easy to make beautiful, even tart cases, but here I'll let you into the secret of how the professionals do it. You will see that there are a lot of little details that make all the difference. It's a bit technical, but don't worry, I'll guide you through the important points.
October 3rd 202175 K 2 hours 30 min.
Scrambled eggs and leeks on toast
Scrambled eggs and leeks on toast
Scrambled eggs on toast, but with a difference: the eggs are partnered with smoked cheese and topped with just-cooked shredded leeks.
March 23th 202224 K 60 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com

Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-06-08)

*Your e-mail Your first name or nickname
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post a comment or question
Posted by:
I am not a leaving thing

Follow this recipe (as 11 people already do)
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.

Back to top of page