How To…Cook Pasta

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Published 2009

Always cook pasta in lots of boiling salted water — about 1 litre (35 fl oz/4 cups) per 100 g/3½ oz pasta. The Italians say that water for cooking pasta should be as salty as the sea.
Keep the water at a rolling boil and stir the pasta only once or twice to stop it clumping together. Adding a little oil to the water may prevent the pasta from sticking, but this will make it slippery and harder for the sauce to stick.
Cook pasta until it is al dente (to the tooth) — the pasta should retain a little bite.
Taste the pasta until it is right, following the cooking instructions on the packet as a guide. When the pasta is cooked, add cold water to the saucepan to stop it cooking, then drain — do not rinse it.
Drained pasta should still have a little water clinging to it to stop it sticking.

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