Pasta 101

Pasta is one of the simplest foods, consisting literally of flour and water, yet has become a dependable staple, a broad base for culinary creativity and a welcome classic in homes across the world. If you want to master the art of perfect pasta, here’s a little digest for you.

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Tips on cooking pasta

Cooking pasta can be intimidating. To help you become a maestro, we’ve delved into the deep end of the pasta pot to find some sensible answers to commonly asked questions and rookie errors.

How much pasta should you cook?

For most types, 70g per person provides a nice starter portion and 100g per person is good for a main meal. If you’re into handy tools, meet the Spaghetti Measure by Mason Cash, with two spaces to slide in dried pasta before cooking to get the right portion for one or two people. Perfect for long pasta varieties.

Should you add salt to the water?

Definitely. Since pasta dough itself contains no salt, this is the only chance you get to season the actual pasta through the absorption of water during cooking. A good rule of thumb; 10g of salt (just over 1.5 tsp) per 1 litre of water. Did you know that the very first batches of pasta, back in the 3000 BC, were cooked in sea water?

Should you add olive oil?

Adding olive oil can help prevent the pasta from sticking, but it also makes the pasta oily, which results in slippery pasta to which your sauce cannot cling. If you’re cooking your pasta properly, it shouldn’t stick together. Add pasta once your salted water comes to a rolling boil and stir frequently within the first 2 minutes of cooking for clump-free cooking. Bellissimo.

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How much water should you cook it in?

Pasta cooks best in roomy pots, tumbled by boiling water. A good guide is to cook 100g of pasta in about 1 litre of water. Be careful not to overcook it. Al dente pasta (exactly translated means ‘to the tooth’, so still quite firm) is key, so keep an eye on it.

Should you rinse the pasta after cooking?

This one’s quite tricky. If you rinse the pasta right after cooking it, you risk cooling it down, which will cause the swollen starch in the pasta to crystallise and not absorb the sauce as successfully. So, you could rinse it in boiling hot water and then toss it with your pasta sauce immediately afterwards. But it’s not necessary. In fact, the starchy residue left on the pasta after draining will do its bit in thickening up the sauce you toss it with, making it even more delicious.

The difference between fresh pasta and dry pasta

Aside from all the many different types you get, these are the two main classifications, pasta fresca (fresh) and pasta secca (dried). Fresh pasta cooks faster than dried pasta and it also absorbs more sauce. If you’re making a big batch of fresh pasta, you can keep it for up to 15 days in the fridge, or you can freeze it. Just be sure to air dry it properly before freezing by laying it out on wooden boards, covered in lightly floured cloths for about 24 hours. Time doesn’t always allow for homemade, and premium dried pasta is a great alternative. Plus it comes in loads of fun shapes.

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The different kinds of pasta

Nowadays pasta comes in so many different shapes, patterns and sizes, it’s difficult to know which one to use. But if you’d like to break out of your spaghetti comfort zone, consider these aspects.

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Short, hollow or tubular pasta
These refer to pastas like rigatone, penne or cavatappi which work well for tomato sauces or meat sauces that will get nicely wedged in the hollows of the pasta, making for a tasty bite.

Shaped pasta
Pastas like fusilli (twists or screws), conchiglioni (shells) and farfalle (bows) go well with chunky sauces that will settle in the kinks and crevices of this shape.

Dried-pastas

Long pasta
Think tagliatelle, spaghetti and linguini. These types of pasta are good for olive or cream based sauces, which will coat the pasta nicely. When it comes to prepping your veg for this type of pasta, julienne strips blend better than small cubes.

Flat pasta
Here the basic contenders are lasagne, cannelloni and pappardelle, which work well for baked dishes, like lasagne.

making prapadelle for bolognese

Tiny pasta
The most minute of the pasta family, like cuoretti (hearts), rotelline (wheels) and riso (rice) are great in soups, broths and stews as they form part of the body of the meal. Just add them to the mix and let them cook there.

How to make your own pasta

Once you’ve tasted homemade or ‘fresh’ pasta you’re likely to quit your job and go on a sabbatical to Italy, because it’s that good. And it only requires a couple of ingredients to make a dish. So it’s worth learning how to make your own pasta dough. The KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer has a host of accompanying pasta making attachments or you could invest in an Imperia Pasta Machine, which, incidentally, rolls fondant too.

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A few classic pasta recipes

After all this talk of pasta, we wouldn’t leave you in the lurch, once your cravings kick in. Here are a few tasty pasta recipes to try your new skills on.

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And with that we wish you good luck on all your pasta cooking adventures.