Pasta and pasta are loved by many as side dishes and as independent dishes. It would seem that there is nothing difficult in their preparation - you just need to boil them in salted water. But this does not always work, and at the exit you may have a sticky, boiled mealy mass. To prevent this from happening, you need to know how to choose and cook the right pasta.
How to choose the "right" pasta
On store shelves you can see a huge number of pasta and pasta of various types: noodles, spaghetti, tubes, horns, shells, spirals, noodles, butterflies, etc. Which one to choose depends on your preferences, adults like tube pasta and spaghetti more, children - vermicelli and shells. But in order to get a tasty dish, the shape of the pasta is completely unimportant, but it is important what kind of flour they are made of.
Beautiful and tasty pasta and noodles can only be prepared from premium pasta, for the manufacture of which flour from durum wheat, which is also called "durum", was used. It will be very difficult to make a tasty dish from pasta of the first grade, which has a grayish tint - they are always boiled.
How much pasta should be cooked
How many housewives have to remember with a smile their first bad experience when they cooked pasta, dipping them in cold water. This is wrong - any pasta and pasta are placed in a saucepan with already boiling water. Moreover, there should be a lot of water - for a pound of pasta or noodles, you need to boil 3-3, 5 liters of water. Salt water to taste. How much pasta will be cooked depends on their type. Reputable manufacturers always indicate the cooking time on the packaging of pasta.
If you're making a casserole with pasta, cut the cooking time in half.
If you bought pasta by weight or have already thrown away the packaging, you will have to taste them periodically during cooking so as not to overcook. Put all the pasta in a saucepan at once and stir so that they do not stick together. You do not need to mix them during the cooking process. Pasta and noodles are usually boiled for 8 to 15 minutes, thin noodles will be ready in 5 minutes, horns and butterflies in 6-8 minutes. Pasta is considered ready when it becomes soft and smooth, but the Italians, who invented it, prefer the “al dente” - “by the tooth” readiness, when they are a little crunchy inside.
Pasta is very fond of sauces. You can add tomato sauce or pesto sauce to boiled products.
But this crunch will no longer be there when you put the pasta in a colander so that the water is glass - the cooking process continues, and the pasta will reach condition already in the colander. Pasta and other products made from good flour do not need to be rinsed in cold water. After the water has drained, put them from a colander into a saucepan and add a little butter or olive oil.
