Essential Guide to Cooking Pasta Cooking Pasta Seems Simple—Just Boil Water and Wait—But Cooking Perfect Pasta Takes Some Finesse
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Essential Guide to Cooking Pasta Cooking pasta seems simple—just boil water and wait—but cooking perfect pasta takes some finesse. Here’s how we do it. By SEAN LAWLER PASTA BUYING GUIDE Italian Pasta rice, corn, quinoa, and spelt, these products were dried blocks of thin, wavy wheat noodles sold in you have two basic choices—dried or fresh. Dried plagued by shaggy, mushy textures and off flavors. If cellophane with a seasoning packet. pasta is made from high-protein durum wheat flour, you’re desperate to avoid wheat, try tinkyáda organic (cooking tips: Instant ramen noodles are first so it cooks up springy and firm and is suitable for Brown rice Pasta. fried, then dried, so they cook in just a few minutes. thick tomato and meat sauces as well as concentrated (cooking tips: Cook and use as you would dried We discard the seasoning packet, make our own broth oil-based sauces. Fresh pasta is made from softer all- semolina pasta. (or doctor some canned chicken broth), and serve purpose flour and is quite delicate. Its rough, porous them topped with meat, seafood, or egg. surface pairs well with dairy-based sauces. Asian NooDles unlike Italian-style pasta, most asian noodles are of a somen noodles: similar shape (long strands of varying thickness), but these very long, thin white they can be made from a wide variety of flours. With noodles are made from some exceptions, they are usually best cooked like wheat flour that has been Italian pasta—in a large quantity of rapidly boiling, salted lightly oiled and are usu- dried pasta winner: ronzoni water, then drained (see specifics below). one note ally sold dried. traditionally, they are served dried semolina pasta: no longer gummy and about judging doneness: In asia, al dente is a foreign iced, along with garnishes and a dipping sauce, but bland, american brands of semolina (which is coarsely concept. asian noodles are best cooked until com- they can also be used in soups. ground durum wheat) pasta have improved so much pletely tender (but not mushy). (cooking tips: like udon, somen should be that many bested their pricey Italian counterparts in rinsed after cooking and need no salt added to the cook- our tasting. chinese egg noodles: these ing water. (cooking tips: When cooked to al dente, pasta pale yellow, spaghetti-sized retains some chew but is neither hard nor gummy at noodles are made from wheat soba noodles: Japanese soba noodles are the center. flour and available dried, in the thin, like Italian linguine, and made from asian ingredients aisle of your market, a mixture of wheat flour and fresh egg pasta: While or fresh, usually with the produce. sometimes buckwheat flour, which your best bet for fresh pasta labeled “lo mein” noodles or generic “Chinese-style” imparts a brownish-gray is still homemade, there are a noodles. (Don’t confuse them with the bags of curly color and earthy flavor. few serviceable supermarket dried american egg noodles.) We prefer imported Japanese soba, which contain options. our favorite brand is (cooking tips: Chinese egg noodles are good a higher percentage of buckwheat flour and therefore found in the refrigerator case, for stir-fries, cold salads, or pan-fried noodle cakes. possess stronger flavor. Cooked soba noodles are sealed in spoilage-retardant except when used in fried noodle cakes, egg noodles added to broths to make soups, lightly dressed and packaging and made from pas- fresh pasta should be drained, rinsed under cool, running water, served as salads (chilled, warm, or at room tempera- teurized eggs. winner: buitoni drained again, then tossed with a few teaspoons of ture), or eaten cold with dipping sauces. (cooking tips: Fresh pasta is easily overcooked, toasted sesame oil (to prevent clumping). (cooking tips: no matter the application, soba so taste early. Drain the pasta a few minutes before it noodles should be rinsed after cooking. reaches al dente, return it to the empty pot, and then udon noodles: available fresh or cook with the sauce for another minute or two. the dried, udon are white, ropelike rice noodles: Chewy white underdone pasta will absorb flavor from the sauce, and wheat noodles that are rice noodles are especially popular the starch from the pasta will help thicken the sauce. especially thick and throughout southeast asia. american starchy. they are best supermarkets generally carry only whole wheat and grain pastas: Most of the used for hearty soups, two sizes: thin, threadlike noodles whole wheat pastas we tried were gummy, grainy, or but unlike ramen (below), the noodles are cooked (sometimes labeled “vermicelli” or lacking in “wheaty” flavor, but there were a few that separately, not in the broth. “rice stick”) and thicker, flat noodles we really liked. our favorite is made from a blend of (cooking tips: udon noodles are made with about 1⁄4 inch wide (confusingly, also called “rice whole wheat and regular flours. We were less thrilled quite a bit of salt, so there is no need to add salt to stick”). rice noodles are traditionally stir-fried (as in about the alternative-grain pastas we tried. Made from the cooking water. Because they are so starchy, they pad thai) or served in soup. goyne r should definitely be rinsed after cooking. (cooking tips: If boiled, rice noodles overcook easily and tend to clump. We’ve had much better ramen noodles: results soaking them in hot water until softened and ramen In Japan, the term pliable, draining them, then adding them directly to on: John Bu I at refers to a whole category the soup or stir-fry. “Vermicelli” rice noodles need r whole wheat winner: of brothy noodle dishes, but in to soak for about five minutes, while thicker noodles ronzoni HEALTHY HARVEST america we are limited to “instant ramen soup”—the need 15 to 20 minutes. Illust c o o k ’ s illustrated 16 q u i c k t i p : Don’t Forget the Salt If you’re worried that the salt a t a g l a n c e : Cooking Pasta italian PASTA COOKING GUIDE may slip your mind, spoon it 1. add salt and pasta to water at a rolling boil. directly into the box of pasta. 2. Stir immediately to prevent sticking. Pasta cooks quickly and should be served immediately, so have all the necessary 3. Cover and return to boil, stirring occasionally. ingredients and utensils assembled before you begin, including your dinner guests. 4. Check early and often for doneness. as the Italians say, “People wait for pasta, not the other way around.” 5. Reserve some cooking water and drain. oil: unless you’re serving a butter- or cream-based sauce, keep 6. Sauce, season, and serve immediately. some extra-virgin olive oil on hand for drizzling over the sauced pasta for a final burst of flavor. Just don’t waste it in the cooking water: It won’t prevent the pasta from sticking (not a problem if you use water and pot: you’ll need 4 quarts of enough water), but it will prevent the sauce from coating the pasta. water to cook 1 pound of dried pasta. any less and the noodles may stick. Pasta colander: once the pasta is drained, leaches starch as it cooks. Without plenty give the colander a shake or two, but of water to dilute it, the starch coats the pasta: one pound of dried pasta liquid Measuring cup: don’t shake the pasta bone-dry. the little noodles, making them sticky. generally serves four to six people as In that last flurry of activity bit of hot cooking water clinging to the the pot should be large, with at least a main course, depending on whether before saucing the pasta and pasta will help the sauce coat it. another a 6-quart capacity—to guard against the sauce is light (tomato sauce), rich getting dinner on the table, no-no: rinsing cooked pasta. boilovers. But forget expensive metal (creamy alfredo or hearty Bolognese), it’s easy to forget to reserve pots and fancy mesh inserts. a light- or bulked up with other ingredients some cooking water to thin weight, inexpensive stockpot with sturdy such as vegetables or seafood. the sauce, if needed. We handles and a lid does the job just fine. often place a measuring cup in the colander as a reminder when we start to cook. q u i c k t i p : Sauce It Dumping sauce on top of a mound of pasta is an american habit we avoid—the noodles pasta fork: of the countless items of pasta para- clump as they cool. Instead, we phernalia we’ve tested over the years, the only one take a cue from the Italians, who we recommend is a pasta fork, a long-handled, perforated spoon with ridged teeth. the wood transfer the drained pasta back to salt: Properly seasoned serving bowls and ladle: the hot pot and add just enough cooking water is crucial We like to serve pasta in variety is clunky and prone to splitting, but the sauce to coat the pasta evenly, for good flavor—use wide soup bowls, as the edge plastic and stainless-steel versions are great. not along with enough reserved pasta 1 tablespoon table salt (or provides an easy place to twirl essential—basic tongs work fine—but we’re glad we cooking water to thin 2 tablespoons kosher salt) noodles on a fork. to warm bought one. it slightly. per 4 quarts of water. them before serving the pasta (especially important with q u i c k t i p : cream sauces, which cool Warm the Serving Bowl sauce: Don’t drop the pasta into the water quickly and congeal), add a If you’re using a large serving bowl, until the sauce is nearly ready.