Pasta seems simple — boil water, toss it in, done, right?
Not quite.
There’s an art to getting pasta perfectly cooked: tender but firm, flavorful, and not stuck together. Here’s your no-fail guide:
1. Use a Big Pot and Lots of Water
Pasta needs space to cook evenly.
Use a large pot filled with at least 4–6 quarts of water for every pound of pasta. If the pot is too small, the pasta sticks and becomes gummy.
2. Salt the Water Like the Sea
This is key to good pasta. Once the water boils, add a generous amount of salt — about 1–2 tablespoons.
It should taste slightly salty, like ocean water.
The salt flavors the pasta from the inside as it cooks.
3. Bring Water to a Full Boil
Wait until you see a strong, rolling boil before adding the pasta.
Adding pasta too early (when it’s just simmering) makes it mushy.
4. Stir Right Away
Once you drop the pasta into the boiling water, stir immediately for the first minute.
This prevents the noodles from sticking to each other or the pot.
5. Cook Al Dente
Al dente means “to the tooth” in Italian — pasta that’s firm when bitten, not soft.
Check the package instructions, but taste-test a minute or two before the suggested time.
It should have a slight bite in the center without feeling raw.
6. Save Some Pasta Water
Before you drain the pasta, scoop out a cup of the cooking water.
This starchy, salty liquid is magic for making sauces cling perfectly to the pasta.
7. Don’t Rinse
After draining, never rinse your pasta (unless you’re making a cold pasta salad).
Rinsing washes away the starch that helps sauce stick beautifully.
8. Finish Pasta in the Sauce
For the most delicious pasta, finish cooking it in the sauce for the last 1–2 minutes.
Toss the pasta and sauce together in a pan, adding a splash of the reserved pasta water if needed.
This lets the pasta absorb the flavors and get perfectly coated.
And that’s it — perfect pasta every time! 🍝✨
