Posted: 10/25/2005 4:08:58 PM EDT
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When you cook long noodles (spaghetti, linguini, fetticini, etc), do you break the noodles in half, or do you cook full length? Do you adjust your cooking time if you're cooking full length noodles? |
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No to both questions. For me, I just hold the noodles in a pot of boiling water until they soften and slides right into the pot. The cooking time for noodles is dependent on how thick the noodles are not on the lenght, ie thinner noodles cook quicker than the thicker ones, but I like the thicker one so it takes a bit longer to cook. |
| Long pasta will soften & bend enough to completely submerge in about 30-45 seconds, you don't need to adjust cooking time. Of course, to properly cook pasta you need a lot of water so I normally use a small stock pot which is large enough for the pasta to go under all at once. |
Unless you're using a tremendously large stock pot, the long noodles will stick out of the water. 30-60 seconds before the immersed portion is soft enough to allow the other end to come into contact with the water. 1 minute is enough to result in unevenly cooked pasta. |
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Bring water to a boil first. Take your measure of pasta and grip with both hands. Twist like pickup sticks to allow them to fan out into the pot. Add a little olive oil and a pinch of salt. Cook to al-dente (soft, but firm, not hard) empty into collander and give a quick rinse. Put pasta sauce in pot and heat, add pasta to sauce and mix thoroughly, this will finish cooking the pasta and allow for better sauce coverage/adhesion. I despise pasta where the sauce won't stick to it.... |
He knows the deal.... If you don't believe any of us, check out Here |
I guess I don't believe you? Mario: Oil is a waste of money when you throw it in the water, it doesn't do anything. www.foodnetwork.com/food/ck_culinary_qa/article/0,,FOOD_9796_1856313,00.html |
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95% of the oil will just float on the surface of the water. The way to keep the pasta from sticking to itself is to fan the pasta out as you put it in the pot, and to stir as it cooks, especially at the beginning. Salt, however, is very important. Your one chance to season the pasta is when its sucking up water. But one function a very small amount of oil can perform is to break up surface tension and prevent bubbles from stacking up so high. A tall pot will also make this a non-issue though. I do break (pun!) with tradition in one way though. I always snap my spaghetti in half before adding it to the pot. I don't like really long pasta on the plate, as it is harder to eat neatly. I always cut it up with my fork anyway, so I save myself some work and snap it all before I cook. It makes no difference in the final product that I've ever been able to tell. |
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