Testing Doneness and Serving

Many suggestions have been made for testing doneness, but none is more reliable than breaking off a very small piece and tasting it. As soon as the pasta is al dente, the cooking must be stopped at once. Half a minute extra is enough to overcook it.

Cooking times differ for every shape and size of pasta. Timing also depends on the kind of flour used and the moisture content. Times indicated on packages are often too long.

Fresh egg pasta, if it has not been allowed to dry, takes only 1 to 1½ minutes to cook after the water returns to a boil.