In video it says to use 2 tablespoons to season pasta water. Is that table salt or kosher salt?

We still use a good sea salt but this is a great time to use the less expensive table salt.

In Topic 1 : Pasta Cooking Essentials, at 0.18,
It says that we need lots of cold water.
Is it really necessary to start with cold water?

And, is it possible to over season the water?
I have also heard that the water should be as salty as the sea.

Because lunch is usually made a couple of hours ahead of time in my house, the sauce and the pasta is prepared earlier..
My question for this is, if keeping the pasta out without sauce for sometime, will they begin to stick?
Usually it does... and.. is there anyway to prevent them from sticking?
Or maybe its because the pasta is never really stirred when cooking..

Hi Winnie.
Yes, you must start with cold tap water...warm or hot tap water tastes bitter. It doesn't have to taste like the sea, that's going a bit far, but at least seasoned to the point where you taste the salt.

Ideally, cook the pasta right before service. If you have to prep ahead of time, which I don't recommend, toss the cooked pasta to the sauce and stir in a bit of olive oil. Then reheat, perhaps adding a bit of water if it has absorbed and dried a little. And, yes, make sure you do stir the pasta when cooking.

Hope this helps.

Ahh okay. That's interesting. I never would have thought that hot water imparts a bitter taste.

Yeah, I agree too that the pasta should be made on the spot. But it's hard cause no one has the time here.

Thanks for the answers, Tony!

i can understand the bitter taste issue with using hot or tepit TAP water ... but in an effort to save time, i often put half the cold water in the pot to boil but heat the rest in an electric kettle and then add that into my pot, then salt, etc.

i don't know if it actually saves time - it might be that i'm just keeping myself busy with the kettle and not standing around waiting for a large pot of water to come to a boil ...

Great topic! There was one confusing quiz question for me that perhaps could use some clarification. "17. Al dente means:". In the videos there is a translation of what Al dente means. I was looking for this translation and when didn't find it, selected 'None of the above'.

In addition, is all dried pasta supposed to be cooked Al dente all the time, or just to the cooks preference (as opposed to cooked all the way through?)

Cheers

Hi Steve,
Thanks for your input. The question has been updated to reflect a clearer answer. In general, when cooking dried, extruded pasta, it should be cooked al dente, as the texture will suit most dishes. However, there are times when dried, extruded pasta should be cooked all the way through (in the case of macaroni & cheese - a soft texture is much more pleasant for this type of dish; see http://rouxbe.com/recipes/1218). It's really up to you how you like your pasta, but more than often al dente will be the way to go. Al dente also gives you a tiny bit of wiggle room - you're less likely to overcook it when finishing the pasta in a skillet with a sauce. Hope this helps.

I am very grateful for what I am learning, it allows me to correct several errors that I had to cook, I put oil to the pasta, now it should not be do that.
I have a question, you have a recipe for Lomo Saltado (from Peru), well, I prepare the Lomo Saltado, but instead of potatoes and rice, what I do with pasta, it's all the same, just that I do with pasta. My question is: I put the pasta to pan where the Lomo with the other ingredients or I put de Lomo over the pasta?
What is the correct way? I usually echo back on the pasta, but watch the videos made me doubt if this is the best.
Thank you very much.
Note: Please sorry for my bad English.

Hi Soraya,

There's really no right or wrong answer. It's up to you. Just before serving, you can toss the cooked pasta with the lomo or you can place the pasta in a bowl and spoon the lomo over top.

It might be nice to toss it all together so the pasta can soak up some of the juices from the lomo, but really it comes down to personal preference and presentation. Do what you like. If you enjoy it, that's all that matters. :)

Thank you, Kimberly.

After I cooked the pasta and drained, I find out that tends to stick together while cooling, is there a way to avoid that? It may be that the pasta is not good quality? It really taste good, but I hate when it stick together, giving me short time to mix with the sauce.

Drain and serve immediately. Letting the pasta sit for a minute or two may casue it to stick. Make sure the sauce is ready to go.

I see the posted comments on ideally cooking just before service, but what do high volume restaurants do with dried pasta? If put into the position of having to par-cook before service, what is the ideal method for holding/preserving? Air-drying on kitchen racks? I know now not to wash to prevent losing all that starchy goodness/flavor, but what do you recommend?

No doubt for volume cooking dried pasta would have to be par-cooked. Best way is to cook it just prior to the al dente stage. It is drained and cooled on a large cookie sheet tossed with a bit of oil, preferably olive oil or even butter. It is tossed constantly until the steam subsides, then fully cooled in the fridge. With the coated oil or butter, it can then be kept in a closed container without it sticking together. To reheat, simply add to the pan with the sauce and heat in the sauce itself. Not the ideal, but for volume cooking in a hurry, sure beats having to cool it under running water then reheating again in boiling water.

would I be able to squeeze a little tomato paste into the food processor to make red or tomato pasta?
SK

Hi Sophia,

You certainly can use tomato paste to flavor the pasta and change the color. We cover this in the lesson on Making Laminated Pasta (topic #8). Simply combine the tomato paste with the eggs. You might need to adjust the amount of flour a bit to get the proper consistency. Happy cooking!

If you're cooking off the pasta to reheat later, don't forget to rinse it before storing. Getting all that starch off the outside of the pasta will help reduce clumping in the chiller.

We pre-cook a LOT of pasta in the restaurant and then finish to order, one tip I can add is to only cook the pasta to about half done, then finish to al dente when you reheat it or you'll end up with a mushy mess.

I'm a proponent of heavily seasoning the water. I usually season it until it tastes like brackish water myself... makes the pasta taste so much better.

"Oil should never be added to the pasta water because it prevents the sauce from sticking to the pasta." I am pretty sure Alton Brown disproved this and adding a drop or 2 will keep it from foaming as it breaks the surface tension on the water. A lot of oil is a no-no.

He actual preaches the same thing in "Use your Noodle I" (NEVER add oil) but I need to find the other one where he does some tests and recants this, I believe it is the "Myth Busters" episode.

I'm sure a drop or two won't hurt, and it will help prevent foaming. As an instructor i've noticed it's better to tell people to avoid doing something that might and will be abused and end with compromised results. A drop can be interpreted as a teaspoon, and even that much is a no-no.

Just because someone "might" do something or you think it is better to "avoid" telling them because it it better for the end result. Does not make teaching something that is -UNTRUE- the correct thing to do. Furthermore, TESTING on this untruth is even MORE insulting.

I have done my own tests and I am but sure how much oil it takes exactly to effect the ability of sauce to stick to pastas. But I am telling you it takes an awful lot of oil to change a gallon of water and the pasta in it. Not to mention oil floats. We are not talking the effect of a drop of egg yolk has on egg whites when you are trying to make a foam.

You should think long and hard about how you teach this subject or at least take the wrong answer off the test.

Does it matter when to add the salt to the water when cooking pasta, when the water is boiling or in the beginning when the water is cold?

It is better to add the salt to boiling water as it will dissolve more rapidly. Also, if you forget about the water and it reduces at all, prior to adding the salt, it will do so without the salt reducing.

If, however, you add the salt at the beginning, just make sure to stir so it completely dissolves. Keep an eye on the water level too so that the water doesn't over reduce and become too salty. Sometimes that pot of water can be boiling for a long time before you actually are ready to add the pasta. Just something to keep in mind.

hi DAWN I NEED A GOOD MACARONI RECIPE BAKED NOT ON THE STOVE. PLEASE HELP THANKS

This recipe for macaroni and cheese can be made and then baked in the oven. Essentially, you just need to make a bechamel or a mornay and then toss that with noodles.

I would even sprinkle the top with breadcrumbs and more cheese and then cover with foil before baking. Then for the last 10-15 minutes, uncover to brown the breadcrumbs.