How to Cook Pasta

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 ...

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. :)

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.

I've watched the lesson and read all the responses, many of which discuss the salt issue. Here's the "ornery old man" part; I've been making pasta for before many of you were born, and I NEVER add salt to the water and no one's complained yet! :-)

OK, I guess I'll have to test this myself (salted water results in better tasting pasta), but I'm really reluctant because of adding what seems to me, an necessary and unhealthy ingredient. Infusing all the pasta with salt seems to take away the optional choice of adding a bit of salt to the finished dish. I'd love to hear some feedback on this issue.

Cooking is all about making dishes to suit both your own tastes and personal health needs.

In our opinion, salt brings out the flavor of pasta. Seasoning during every step of the cooking process is a normal practice that chefs use. By salting the water, this helps to bring out the flavor in the pasta and will likely require less salting of the sauce/dish at the end.

Really, it's up to you. If you are happy with the results that you achieve, that's all that matters. Happy cooking!

Hi,

Problem: Husband and I like Spaghetti sauce, kids do not.

Kids like plain Spaghetti with Parmesan Cheese on top and always stay at the table long enough to have two helpings and by that time the Spaghetti is clumped together in one solid mass.

If I put the oil on the spaghetti so it won't clump after it's cooled, then the dish is oily. If I leave it off, the sauce adheres to the spaghetti quite nicely but then we're left with this sticky ball of spaghetti elastic for the kids to pry apart.

How can you help me solve my problem? A ratio of oil to spaghetti would be nice. Because I don't think there's another solution other than oiling up the spaghetti when it comes out of the pan.

Also, should I rinse the spaghetti if I'm going to oil it for the kids?

Thanks!

This example for Spaghetti Aglio e Olio is a great way to cook pasta using very few ingredients. If your kids don't like garlic or chilies, feel free to leave them out or just use less. This dish can be altered way you like by changing up the toppings at the end. It contains a good amount of olive oil to keep it loose. Toss the pasta from time to time as it sits to help keep it loose; however, any pasta that cools naturally gets sticky from the starches within.

We do not recommend rinsing pasta. It prevents sauces/oils from clinging to it. Cheers!

All these years I thought I was doing something wrong and wondered why it always clumped. Duh!

Now if I could only get my rice to stop clumping. I finally gave up after several years of the ricer and am back to instant rice. The kids are grateful and I feel defeated, deflated and dejected.

thanks for the tip, I'll give it a whirl!

We have great lessons in the Cooking School on Cooking Rice. Make sure to check them out. Happy Cooking!

Hello!
I'm trying to find a good pot for boiling pasta, but I'm having some trouble finding one that keeps a straight contour all the way to the bottom like the one shown in the video. I was of thinking of just purchasing one of those 'past pots' that come with a colander insert but noticed that although the sides are straight, the bottom 3 inches or so still curves inwards. Is this something you would caution against? Perhaps I am misunderstanding something and being too picky. Any advice will be appreciated!

While straight sides are good, they are not extremely vital. The most important thing to make sure of is to have plenty of boiling water for the amount of pasta you are cooking, so don't get too stressed out on the type of pot. I usually use a 8 or 10 liter stock pot and it's fine. Hope this helps!

Hey, Jake!

Don't sweat the small stuff, unless of course it's diced onions...

Trust me, you are getting good advise from Dawn.

What I'm finding out after being a class "A" horrible cook for 30 or better years, thanks to Rouxbe, it's not the pot, it's the cook.

You can cook ANYTHING delicious! in the worst pot in the world, trust me I still have several, and make dishes that vibrate with the songs of angels. This is the place that will teach you how to do that--even on an open wood fire with rock pots.

So throw out your worries about having the exact right tools and jump in for a heavenly culinary ride your decedents will write stories about... and try to use common sense when cooking anything. Which is really hard for those of us coming from the recipe world. If your pasta isn't jumping around in the pot, encourage it with a utensil and higher heat. Just keep an eye on it.

My most cherished tools to date?

1 A GOOD SHARP knife - Mine? $120 for a chef's knife and a smaller one that I've never used.

1 My wooden flat spatula.
2 My spider spatula
3 Cheap metal strainer
4) cheap metal rack for resting meat on
5) A cast iron heat diffuser found at Sur La Table-which turned
all my cheap crappy pots into those outrageously expensive ones

6) A good gause cloth reusable--not found in kitchen stores, found on amazon.

7) and a good bottle of wine which helps give me the courage to wonder around in the culinary dark courageously.

6) probably more but not much.

7) oh, and one more thing, throw out all your Teflon skillets if you have any!

Forget about going out and buying expensive pots. It's a Zen thing. The more you cook the more you will instinctively know what you want to buy.

I nearly dropped a couple thousand on pots and pans before I really knew what I needed. Now I just use the cheap stuff I already owned, and frankly, I'm glad I did as it has made a better cook out of me.

So my advise, get to know the pots and pans you already own. I'm still getting to know mine, and who knew they weren't as bad as I thought they were.

It was me all along-well most of it anyway.

As in life, how can you know the benefits of the good, if you have not fully experienced the bad?

After 15 years of owning these pots, I am only beginning to get to know them on a deeper level and realizing I still don't know what I want.

but one day at a time they teach me what I want to add to my wish list.

Practice, is the best advise Rouxbe ever gave me.

Without putting any oil or butter into the boiling water, how do you keep it from foaming over? I cooked the Spaghetti Aglio e Olio recipe twice this week, (and it is WONDERFUL), but without the oil, each time I end up having to almost continually blow on the foam to keep it from foaming over. What do you guys do? Should I buy a fan?

I had the same question, but when Rouxbe taught me about oil in the water, I elected to just salt it. I used oil in the pot for many years and am much happier with the results since I stopped.

Oil in my experience did keep the pot from boiling over. So what I do now is keep a closer eye on it (and everything!)

I'm sure this did not help you, but someone will be along shortly to help you out.

Just make sure the water is well salted and is at a rolling boil before you add the pasta.

I mostly cook Angel Hair pasta so I'm not much of an expert in this area. But boy does my family now love how it turns out and I no longer have problems with the foam spilling over onto the stove top, or the ginormous glue-like clumps of pasta on the plate.

Best wishes!

I actually just had Spaghetti Aglio e Olio for dinner - mmmmmm it sure was quick and delicious! Yes, the water will foam at a rapid boil, but I suppose I use a large enough pot where I don't have to worry about it boiling over (yet there is still enough water and room in the pot for the pasta to cook properly). We don't do anything special at Rouxbe. Jude is right, if your pot isn't that large, you'll need to keep a closer eye on it. Cheers!

Yes, a big enough pot, water not too near the top, keep lid off and keep an eye on it.

Salt doesn't affect the boiling over, I don't believe.

I keep the heat on high after adding the pasta, watch it until the noodles soften and separate (with some help from a metal fork), then turn down the heat. At this point, you don't have to watch so closely.

Thank you for the clarification Kimberley!
I have only just recently started cooking on my own so everything is very new to me. Last night I made my first spaghetti ever -- 'spaghetti and meatballs alla nonna', and to my surprise it turned out very delicious! The stock pot that I had did its job wonderfully to cook the pasta.
Thanks Jude for your kind and helpful advice. I really should just go ahead and start cooking more often with what I have. Your list of useful tools is very intriguing and I will take note on that! :)

Congrats on the spaghetti!!

I've read most hardware stores have those cast iron heat diffusers you can put on the top of the burner between your pan and heat element-so if your pots and pans are really really cheap. Pick one up. I've seen them for $5.00. I paid $20 ea. for both of mine on the sur la table website. You can also find them on Amazon. I'd go for cast iron.

I think somewhere on this site they talk about pans having "hot spots" This can drive you crazy once you really get into pan frying. Hot spots means there are places on the bottom of your pots and pans where it gets hotter, and the food will stick or burn in those parts and not in others. The diffuser distributes the heat to the bottom of your pan more evenly to prevent this from happening. They rock!

If you were my kid (I'm guessing I'm old enough to be your mother), I'd tell you to go straight to the pan frying lessons because literally over-night you can be making expensive gourmet food at a fraction of the cost.

The chicken Marsala is probably the easiest one to start with and you will love it and be blown away at how easy it is to produce a dish we only thought chefs with years of experience could make. Then you'll be hooked on cooking and never look back!

Keep us posted on your progress!

Best wishes,

Jude

I am wondering if it is ever recommended to boil the pasta in a liquid other than water...like a stock or a broth? Or perhaps adding some aeromatics to the water during the boiling process? This option was suggested in the rice cooking lessons and I'm wondering if it is applicable to pasta cooking as well. Thanks for all of the great info!

I made a dish a few years ago that called for boiling the pasta in the same water the broccoli rabe was blanched in, along with the addition of a bottle of old vine zinfindel. As I recall, the dish was very successful and the pasta was beautiful. Also, when I make a pot roast I use the sucs and drippings, a little red wine, and some beef stock to cook the homemade pasta. It's a family favorite and a winter staple in our house. So, I guess the answer is "yes!"

Thanks for the advice Jude! The heat diffuser does sound like something that could save me a lot of money. I'll definitely look into one of those once I get some more cooking experience. Maybe I'll try the chicken marsala in the meantime!

When making pasta I put the plates or bowls in the sink and then drain the pasta water into them. By the time the sauce has been combined with the pasta the plates or bowls are nicely heated, so I just pour out the water and wipe them dry. Probably won't work for a crowd, but it works nicely for me when I'm making just 1 or 2 servings.

I just found out there are two different kinds of heat diffusers. One is a cheap silver colored metal that has hundreds of holes for more air flow. Just got mine today; can't wait to use it. The other is what I already have, which is a metal plate. Both have uses.

I'd go with the ones with the holes, alot cheaper. I found one at Bed Bath and Beyond for $3.99. It's called a flame tamer/simmer plate. But sellers on amazon call it a heat diffuser. Confusing at best.

The one with the holes is when your burner is set on the lowest setting, and still heats too high to simmer something a long time without burning the food. I'd get that one. The reviews says it also gets rid of hot spots!

Skip the pricier metal flat plates and check out a hardware store where they sell camping equipment or Bed Bath and Beyond.

The draw back with the flat metal plate, is if your pans are warped on the bottom, like a few of mine, it won't sit straight and would be a waste of money. I may stop using mine altogether if this cheap holey one lives up to the reviews.

Best wishes,

Jude

There were questions on the quiz regarding laminated pasta and I don't recal anything in the video about laminated pasta. Otherwise the information was extremely helpful. Did learn not to add oil to the cooking pasta and why.

Glad you liked the lesson. As for the question about laminated pasta, there is a pre-requisite to this lesson called Selecting Pasta which covers the difference between dried and laminated pasta. Cheers!

I am about to purchase one or two Le Creuset pots. If you could only have one or two, which size do you feel is most versatile size? Which side would be the most used? I would like to cook a variety of things like braising and stewing but also soups and general use. Pots are the item in my kitchen that I have yet to upgrade and I notice that you are using a Le Creuset type pot in the Pasta video - can I use them for just about anything?? Also, round or oval??

BTW - Can you please tell me the size of the pot used in your "How to Cook Pasta" video?

THANKS!

If you search "Le Creuset" and then go to the "forum discussion tab" will find many threads on this already. Here is a link to the thread for "round vs. oval". My advice would be to not go too small. I think the ones I use the most often are the 5 1/2 qt., at least when I am cooking for only 4-6 people.

As for the one used in the pasta video it was a 6 qt. Mario Batali pot. Hope this helps. Cheers!

I wouldn't have thought that I could learn more about making pasta, but this video delivered! The Le Creuset sticks out like a sore thumb here for pasta cooking, however, for me anyhow. Aside from the shape, I can't think of a single reason to use it over a plain stock pot. It's far too cumbersome a beast to manage for the task, especially when all the water alone makes any pot heavy. Let alone the expense for the home cook. I mean, i have both and i would *never* reach for the LC for pasta cooking... what gives? Marketing quotas?

When it comes to boiling pasta, a pot is a pot. There is no difference between cooking it in a large, metal pot or one that is made of cast iron. In this instance, it was for aesthetic reasons. My le creuset pot sits almost near my stove, so for me, it's not a big deal to pull it out, but most definitely, you can reach for the lightest pot, if desired. Cheers!

Well, no denying that it looks better than most. But ok, was just surprised and wondering if i'd missed something obvious there. Thanks for the reply!

It's funny, I keep my LC right on the stove, but never think to use it for boiling pasta. One day I did, however, because I was using my usual boiling pot for something else. I DID find one difference. Because the cast iron holds the heat so well, the water returned to the boil more quickly after adding the pasta (if it even went OFF the boil). That saved me a good 30 seconds. ;-) (Seriously, there is an advantage to maintaining a rolling boil while adding pasta.)

Hey there,

I cooked some spaghetti last night as I always due with rapid boiling well salted water and after straining it , and adding it back to the pot, i turned into a ball of sticky spaghetti quite quickly.

I have cooked spahetti many times without issue, and was using a brand I had never cooked in the past, however I assumed it was of good quality as the only indgredients were Durum wheat semolina, and water.

Any thoughts on if it was me or possibly the brand of pasta? Could it be due to the fact that I added back to the warm pot?

If anyone has any ideas I would appreciate it.

Thanks Mark

It could have been the type of pasta but it also could have been how long you left it sitting in the pot. Any pasta will eventually clump together because it is starchy and as it sits, it will stick together. It is best to have everything set up so once you drain the pasta, you can immediately sauce it. This will help the sauce cling to it and keep the pasta hot. Cheers!

I'm on a quest to make better and 'more homemade' less processed food. we love spaghetti. actually pasta of any kind. so i bought a pasta roller and an extruder. i just went through the lessons on pasta but was disappointed that there was nothing about extruding. i haven't tried either yet, but tomorrow is my 'pasta making day'. is there any info and resources you can point me to about extruding? i want to try homemade mac and cheese!

We did not do a lesson on how to extrude pasta as this type of pasta is typically something that is commercially made. See the lesson on "Selecting Pasta" for more information on this.

There are machines available for home use but they are usually quite large.

There are many commercially made extruded pastas which are of great quality. Cheers!

Extruding machines, unless they are very thick, heavy (and thus expensive), will often give the home cook (or chef, for that matter) disappointing results. Though the process looks simple, it takes quite a bit of knowledge to perfect the right formula of semolina to moisture, and so many variables on a molecular level can come into play. This explains why many commercial extruded brands are inferior to others, even though they use the same ingredients and equipment.

I'd stick to homemade laminated pasta, but purchase quality dried extruded pasta.

I just made the laminated pasta from the lesson. I cooked it for about 3 min. with a gently boiling water and it came out to be a gummy mess. The pasta was rolled to the #5 setting on kitchen aid stand mixer and cut to linguine. I dusted it with a little bit of flour and let it sit for about 30 min. After cooking it was broke easily and was mushy. I'm wondering if it's the making of the pasta or the cooking of the pasta that's the problem.

Getting the right texture with fresh pasta is not easy. Hate to use the same old adage, but it takes practice. Gummy pasta may mean the dough was too wet, or not kneaded enough and well rested, or over-cooked. If it broke easily, it probably either had too much olive oil in the dough, and/or not kneaded enough.

3 minutes of cooking may be too long. Also, fresh pasta is quite delicate, and requires gentleness when removed from the pot to the sauce.

My first attempt was, likewise, a disappointment. But with practice you do eventually get a feel for it. Cheers!