A step by step video guide for cooking up a whole wheat spaghetti pasta with basil, cherry tomatoes and toasted pine nuts in an olive oil garlic sauce. This …
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Question by sunshinelady101: How to properly cook pasta?
Hello. My roommates and I are having guests over for dinner tonight, so I offered to cook pasta with meat-tomato sauce. I’ve cooked pasta before, but only for myself. I plan on getting healthy pasta (whole grain/veggie). My biggest question is…how do I cook pasta so the noodles do not stick together even after being served on a plate? How do I make the noodles “moisturized” so to speak so when eaten they slide around like worms hehe and not mesh together like porridge? Thank you so much! Any additional advice on flavoring and seasoning is welcome! xoxo
Best answer:
Answer by PoohBearPenguin
The reason they stick together like that is you’re not using enough water when you cook them.
Use at least 2 quarts of water in a very large pot. Add a bit of salt to the water. When the water is at a rolling boil, add the noodles, Stir them around a bit so they don’t stick together. Once they start moving due to the boiling water you don’t need to stir them. Cook until al dente – the noodle should be soft but not mushy.
If you don’t want them to stick, you can either just leave them in the water, and scoop them out when serving. Or if you want to put them on a plate for serving, you can rinse them a little under clean water. However this also means they won’t hold onto the sauce as well.
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Should’ve added more salt to the pasta water & sliced the tomatoes.
Cook them al dente in plenty of boiling, salted water, drain when done, and serve immediately. The pasta should never wait on the sauce. If they MUST be held, toss them with just a touch of good quality olive oil to keep them from sticking, and keep them warm. Normally, you toss the pasta in with the sauce, and serve a large platter of the mixed dish, topped with freshly grated parm.
when you cook pasta make sure you have boilet it long enought for it to bo soft and same with noodles when it is in the hot water leave in for a few minuits then pour some water out and evaporate the water in the microwave!! 😉
I’d have pot with the water already boiling then put the Pasta in with a tablespoon of salt !
For perfect pasta you bring water to a vigorous boil through in pasta and cook for exactly 12min. Drain water and through pasta in the tomato sauce and slowly mix it all up.
Follow the directions on the box for how long to boil them…its quite simple! As for them sticking together I know some people will put some oil or butter on them just to keep them slippery after draining them. That way they dont get all sticky and tangled!
Cooking pasta is an art form anyone can learn. Assemble an easy sauce, and just toss with your al dente pasta. Here’s how.
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: 20 minutes
Here’s How:
1.Fill a large stockpot with water. The more the better – pasta only sticks when cooked in too little water.
2.Add salt. Salt makes pasta taste better, and won’t appreciably increase the sodium level of your recipes. Use 1 teaspoon per gallon of water. At that level, 2 ounces of uncooked pasta (1 cup cooked), the FDA serving size, absorbs about 20 mg of sodium which is about 1% of the recommended daily sodium intake.
3.Bring the water to a rolling boil. This means a boil you can’t stop by stirring.
4.Measure the pasta you need. Pasta generally doubles in size when cooked, so 1 cup uncooked = 2 cups cooked. Refer to the recipe if necessary.
5.Slowly add the pasta to the boiling water. Ideally, the water shouldn’t stop boiling, but if that happens, it’s ok.
6.Stir and stir some more! Pasta will stick together if it isn’t stirred during the crucial first moments of cooking.
7.Start timing when the water returns to a boil. Most pastas cook in 8-12 minutes. Check the package directions!
8.You can regulate the heat so the pasta/water mixture doesn’t foam up and over the pot sides. Lower it the tiniest bit, and everything should be under control.
9.Really the only way to tell if the pasta is correctly cooked is to taste it. It should be ‘al dente’ – firm, yet tender, with a tiny core in the middle.
10.You can also cut into a piece you’ve fished out of the pot. There shouldn’t be any solid white in the center of the pasta – just a shading to more opaque cream.
11.Now drain the pasta into a colander placed into your kitchen sink. Lift the colander and shake off excess water.
12.Don’t rinse if you’re serving a hot dish. That removes the starch that helps hold the sauce. If you are making a cold salad, rinse so the salad isn’t sticky.
Tips:
1.By covering the pot when you bring water to a boil, you are lowering the air pressure directly over the water, making it easier to boil.
2.Never mix pasta types in one pot.
3.Watch the cooking process carefully. Pasta can overcook very quickly.
4.If the pasta is to be used in a casserole, undercook it slightly. It will finish cooking to perfection while in the oven or skillet.
It sounds like maybe a big problem is you are over cooking the noodles, or cooking them right, but not shocking them after they are done.
Bring a pot of water to a boil, and salt the water. Once boiling add the noodles, and stir them occasionally to prevent them from sticking in the water. You want to cook until it is soft and tender, but not mushy. Check it frequently to keep it in the soft area.
Dump the noodles into a strainer or a colander, and you must shock them, if you aren’t going to use them right away. (Shocking is either ice bathing them, or running cold water over the noodles, this prevents them from cooking after coming out of the pot, because they are so hot.) If you are going to use them right away, skip this step.
After shocking if need be, drizzle olive oil over the top of the noodles and toss them. This prevents them from sticking together.
If you have done all this you should have a perfect pasta meal. Good luck 😀
ok you start with the meat sauce i buy some in a jar or can then add spices to it
ground beef -chopped onion garlic minced
cook beef – onion- garlic until meat is done (brown) drain off any fat now add the sauce and spices(oregano-dried basil 1/2 teaspoon of each) if you want
put water on to boil
when it starts to boil add the pasta stir.
cook until almost done if the box direction calls for 8-10 min check it in 7
and it is done when you test it and it cuts kinda easy keep an eye on the pasta because it over cooks easily
Rule of thumb is……………Fill a medium size cooking pot with water – about 2 inches from the top. This will easily handle a typical 12-16 oz package of noodles (or pasta.) It’s important to have enough water to give the noodles room to swell without bunching up and to dilute the released starch. A general rule is 5-6 quarts of water for every 1 lb of noodles……………
What I do is cover the pot and turn the heat on high. When water just starts to boil, I add 2-3 dashes of salt and 1 Tbsp of margarine. Stir and re-cover…………………
As water comes to a full boil, add the 12-16 oz package of noodles/pasta…. The boiling will temporarily reduce. Use a long spoon to slowly separate the “hard” noodles……..
It is critical during these first 2-3 minutes to separate and stir the noodles. The noodles will be coated with a gooey surface starch which will make them stick together if they are touching. As the noodles soften, the released starch will be diluted in the water and the noodles will be easier to manage…..
After 2-3 minutes place the cover on the pot. Keep it on till the water comes back up to a full boil. Remove the cover…..
When you place the cover back on the water, it will heat up fast … watch so that the water does not boil over. As soon as the water begins to foam and rise, quickly remove the cover….
Continue boiling noodles uncovered until tender. Stirring frequently. Most noodles will be cooked after 10-12 minutes but it may take longer depending on the variety being used and the intensity of the boil…..
At nine minutes the pasta noodles should just be about right………..
It is a real simple process………..and it does work……
Good luck……………….