Boiled pasta is a familiar and traditional side dish that is simple and quick to prepare. Knowing a few simple rules, even a novice housewife, a child and a husband waiting for his wife and newborn to return from the maternity hospital can cook correct, non-sticky pasta.

To make the pasta tasty, elastic and beautiful, you need to cook it in a large volume of water, which requires a rather large saucepan. The formula for calculating products is simple - 100:1000:10. This is the proportion of weight, volume and mass. That is, for every 100 grams of dry pasta you need to take a liter of water, salt, of course, add everything to taste, 10 grams is not an axiom.

The best pasta is made from durum wheat, so it holds its shape well and requires some effort to make the finished pasta stick together. It is necessary to take into account the fact that pasta perfectly absorbs the taste of the water in which it is boiled, so it makes sense to use bottled or filtered water for cooking.

The cooking process begins from the moment you place the pasta (remember, we don’t break long ones, spaghetti or noodles are placed vertically in the pan and will gradually submerge themselves) into boiling water. The pasta is cooked in boiling water, so if you turn down the heat, then only slightly.

The cooking time for pasta depends on its shape, size and the dish being prepared. Usually the packaging indicates an approximate time, often two options, until fully cooked and al dente(to the teeth). Pasta cooked al dente is usually then supplemented with sauces, from where the pasta will “get” the necessary moisture.

You can check the readiness of the pasta by tasting it, or, if these are long types of pasta that are not very convenient to remove from boiling water, by pressing on the pasta. If the pasta can be easily separated, then it is ready; if some effort is applied, it needs to be cooked for another minute or two.

After cooking, the pasta should be placed in a colander and washed only if the finished pasta was intended for salad. After draining the water, return the pasta to the pan and add oil - or, to taste. Shake the pan thoroughly, after closing the lid tightly. The ideal way to serve pasta is immediately after cooking; if this does not work, after 8-10 minutes, shake the pan with pasta again to ensure that it does not stick together.

Properly cooked pasta will never harm your figure, of course, if you don’t eat kilos of it.

Do you like pasta? If not, then maybe you don’t know how to cook them deliciously, or don’t know how to cook pasta correctly? It’s not for nothing that Italian chefs consider pasta one of the most delicious foods.

1. The main rule for successfully cooking pasta is a sufficient amount of water, at least 1 liter per 100 grams of pasta. If there is less water, the pasta will cook longer, become sticky, and may even stick together completely. By the way, do you know what kind of water you should cook pasta in? The water must be clean; if you use tap water, then it must at least be allowed to settle. Pasta must be placed in boiling and always salted water (10 g of salt per 1 liter of water); pasta cannot be salted during cooking.
2. At what heat should you cook pasta? At first, while we wait for the water to boil, the fire may be at its largest. Then, after lowering the pasta into the pan and waiting for the water to boil again, the heat under the pan must be reduced.
3. Long pasta should not be broken before cooking. It’s better to put it in the pan and lightly press on the protruding ends. Gradually the pasta will soften and be completely immersed in water. There is no need to cover the pan with pasta.
4. How many minutes should you cook pasta? The cooking time depends on the quality of the pasta, and therefore is usually indicated on the package. But in order to cook the pasta the way you need it, 2-3 minutes before the end of cooking, the product is worth trying. You might like a firmer pasta.
5. It is not recommended to rinse the pasta; just drain it in a colander and shake it several times. If you rinse the pasta, then due to a sharp temperature change the content of vitamins in the finished product will decrease.

How to cook pasta in the microwave?

If you need to cook pasta in the microwave, then you will also need to know how to do it correctly.

1. Take a deep glass container. Pour in 2 times more water than the amount of pasta. Place the water in the microwave to boil.
2. Place salt and pasta in boiling water, add 1 tbsp. a spoonful of any vegetable oil so that the pasta does not stick together, and send it back to the oven.
3. How many minutes to cook pasta in the microwave? Depends on their variety. The horns take a little longer to cook than the noodles. On average, cooking time takes 10 minutes, and you will need to select the specific time yourself. In order not to make a mistake with the time, we cook the horns at full power, and for the noodles, we reduce the power a little.
4. Place the finished pasta in a colander and rinse.

How to cook nest pasta? Of course, in a frying pan. But the good thing about nests is that you can prepare a delicious dish based on them; you just need to prepare the filling. Therefore, it would be appropriate to consider not just how to cook nest pasta, but the recipe for the whole dish.

Ingredients:

• beef (pork) – 500 g;
• garlic – 2 cloves;
• onion – 1 pc.;
• nest pasta;
• vegetable oil;
• water;
• bouillon cube;
• ketchup;
• spices and salt to taste.

Preparation

We pass the meat through a meat grinder along with onions and garlic. Add spices and salt and mix thoroughly. Grease a deep frying pan with oil and place nests in it. Place minced meat in the center of each nest. Next, pour water into the pan so that it covers the pasta, and dissolve the bouillon cube in the water. Cover the pan with a lid and cook over low heat for 15-20 minutes. Afterwards, drain the water, leaving it a little at the bottom, pour ketchup over the pasta, sprinkle with grated cheese and place in a preheated oven for 5-10 minutes.

How to cook rice pasta?

If you are allergic to the protein contained in wheat, you can only eat pasta if it is rice pasta. It’s good that you don’t need any additional equipment to cook them. All cooking rules for regular pasta also apply to rice pasta. Only the cooking time will be shorter, about 5-7 minutes.

How much and how to cook pasta to make it perfect?

An interesting question that torments many housewives.

Some pasta sticks together, others turn out glassy, ​​and still others tasteless.

What is the problem and how to cook pasta correctly?

How to cook pasta - general cooking principles

There is simply no ideal recipe and exact time for how long to cook pasta. It all depends on the type of wheat used, the size of the products and the chosen cooking method. But there are general principles that will help you prepare the perfect dish.

Five secrets of perfect pasta:

1. Before cooking, it is advisable to study the information on the packaging. Usually the cooking time is indicated there. But it is also approximate.

2. To prevent the pasta from sticking together, you can add a little oil to the water while cooking. And, of course, lubricate the finished products.

3. Of course, you can fill a pack of products with a liter of water and cook. But it is believed that for ideal pasta you need at least a liter of liquid per 100 grams of dry product, regardless of its size and shape.

4. Never skimp on pasta. If they are made from bad wheat, then it is more difficult to achieve a tasty and perfect dish. And, by the way, the cost of different types rarely makes a really big difference and hits the wallet hard.

5. Immediately after putting the pasta into the water, mix it well. Otherwise they will definitely stick together.

These simple tips will help you prepare a quality side dish or any other dish. But how and how long should you cook pasta so that it doesn’t stick together and turns out tasty and neat?

How to cook pasta in a saucepan

The most common way to cook pasta is to cook it in a saucepan. This is how products are prepared for side dishes, casseroles and other needs. Many housewives use this method, but how to properly cook pasta on the stove?

Ingredients

300 grams of pasta;

3 liters of water;

2 tablespoons of salt;

40 grams of butter.

Preparation

1. Pour water into the pan, put it on the stove and let it boil. Salt.

2. Dip the dry product into the water and immediately stir well, otherwise the products will stick to the walls of the dish and to the bottom.

3. Now you need to cover the pan with a lid for a few seconds and turn the heat to maximum so that the products boil as quickly as possible.

4. Immediately remove the lid, otherwise the dish will “run away” onto the stove.

5. Turn the heat to moderate and cook until done.

6. But how long should you cook pasta? If the time on the package is 10 minutes, then at 9 minutes you need to try.

7. If the products are ready, then drain them into a colander. You can rinse with boiling water.

8. Add oil, stir and you're done! You can use any oil. It is better to melt the butter so that it is more evenly distributed over the products.

How and how much to cook pasta for frying and baking

Various dishes are often prepared from boiled pasta, followed by frying or cooking in the oven, for example, for casseroles. But for them, the products need to be prepared a little differently; they cannot be overcooked.

Ingredients

300 grams of pasta;

3 liters of water;

Preparation

1. Boil water with salt, pour in a couple of tablespoons of oil.

2. Add the pasta, stir and bring to a boil over maximum heat.

3. Reduce heat and cook, but not until fully cooked.

4. As soon as the products increase in size, but are still a bit harsh, you need to try them.

5. If the pasta does not stick to your teeth and is easy to bite through, then you’re done! They will reach further when frying.

6. If the products are sticky and difficult to get through, then we bring them to the state described above.

7. If the pasta is soft and completely cooked, then when frying it will lose its shape. Therefore, the dish will have to be cooked with a small amount of sauces and at maximum temperature so as not to turn into pasta porridge.

How to cook pasta so it doesn't stick together

If you can’t cook pasta well and it constantly sticks together, you can resort to some tricks.

Ingredients

Pasta 300 g;

3-4 liters of water;

50 grams of butter;

Preparation

1. Take a large and wide pan. Tall dishes will not work. We need the heat to be distributed as evenly as possible.

2. Salt and immediately pour in the oil. All 50 ml. It will envelop the products and reduce their adhesiveness.

3. As soon as the water boils, add the pasta and quickly bring to a boil. You can cover the pan with a lid for a short time to speed up the process.

4. After boiling, gently stir the products to coat with oil again. We do this carefully, it is better to use a spatula. Stir every 2 minutes, that is, another 2-3 times.

5. Place the finished products in a colander and immediately pour boiling water over them.

How to cook pasta in milk

Milk soup or porridge is a wonderful dish not only for children. It is ideal for breakfast, easy and quick to prepare. You can take any product, from shells to horns and noodles.

Ingredients

1 liter of milk;

200 grams of pasta;

30 grams of butter;

2 spoons of sugar;

Preparation

1. Boil the milk.

2. Salt, sugar and immediately add butter. For dairy dishes, it is better to use butter.

3. Pour in the pasta, stir and let it boil.

4. Reduce heat and cook until soft. Vermicelli is enough for 2-3 minutes. Horns and shells need to be boiled for 8-10 minutes.

How to cook pasta in a saucepan with other ingredients (in soup)

Cooking pasta in combination with vegetables and other ingredients is more difficult. It is necessary to correctly determine the time of laying the product. Most often the soup is cooked with pasta. It’s easier to use web vermicelli for this. Just let the soup boil and you can immediately turn it off. But how and how much to cook other pasta?

Ingredients

Pasta.

Preparation

1. Pasta such as shells, horns, snails are added to the soup when the potatoes begin to pierce, but are not yet completely ready.

2. Place the products in a saucepan; the soup should already be salted. Mix well.

3. Cook until soft, but not completely cooked. The products should be a little stiff, but already increased in size. If the pasta instructions require 10 minutes, then 5-6 is enough for the soup.

5. Turn off and let the dish stand for about 10 minutes. The pasta will finish. If they are overcooked, then even without infusion the products will become sour on the plate.

How to cook fried pasta

Non-draining method of preparing pasta. It requires precise adherence to proportions. But that's not all the features. The pasta turns out very aromatic, tasty and brown. It is better to use simple-shaped products - tubes, vermicelli, horns.

Ingredients

120 grams of pasta;

2 glasses of water;

30 ml oil.

You can add any spices and spices to this dish.

Preparation

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan, add pepper and any spices except salt.

2. Drop in the raw pasta and fry until brown over high heat, don’t forget to stir.

3. Boil water separately with salt and pour into pasta.

4. Let it boil, reduce the heat and cover the pan.

5. Cook the pasta for about 10 minutes, then open. Let's try. If there is liquid left and the dish is already ready, then add heat and evaporate. If the pasta is still damp, cover and let it cook.

6. Season the finished dish with herbs, serve with vegetables, meat, and you can season it with all kinds of sauces.

Pasta tastes better if you grease it with butter. Well, it’s faster and easier to use vegetable oil and requires a little less of it.

If you add beet juice to the water for cooking pasta, it will turn out to be a very interesting and beautiful color. Little picky eaters will especially appreciate this dish. In addition, beets are healthy and are a natural dye.

How long should I boil pasta? According to the norms, 80-100 grams of dry product are used per person. That is, a standard pack of 400 grams is enough for a family of 4 people. But everyone’s appetites are different, this is also worth taking into account.

Water for pasta is salted before immersing the products. And they never add salt during the cooking process.

To cook pasta, you not only need a lot of water, but also a large saucepan. Pour liquid no more than 2/3 full. Otherwise, there is a high risk of washing the stove after cooking.

Pasta is a side dish recognized all over the world. The Italians became the founders of pasta. The composition of this product is very simple: water and flour. Therefore, there is no particular benefit in this side dish, except for the moment when they are really high quality and made from durum wheat, which contains fiber that helps cleanse the body. Pasta is a simple dish and anyone can cook it. However, not everyone knows how long to cook pasta to prevent it from sticking and turning into mush. Experienced housewives have many secrets in their arsenal for high-quality cooking of this product.

Which varieties to choose

Due to the popularity of this side dish, store shelves are filled with various types of pasta; they can be divided into weighted and packaged. Products are also divided into different types according to their shape: spaghetti, spirals, horns, shells, stars, etc. Of the variety of forms, the choice should be made only from personal preferences, who likes what. In addition, you can now find pasta made from various types of flour: buckwheat, rice, and so on.

Classic pasta is made only from durum wheat flour; it is these that you should choose from the variety of offers. Such products are easy to weld, and they do not stick together, unlike cheaper analogues. When choosing a product, you need to pay attention to the packaging; if it indicates group A or the highest grades, then these are the pasta that is worth buying.

There are products of group B, made from soft varieties. This is a budget version of the product, they are inexpensive, but their quality is not the best. It is extremely difficult to cook such pasta so that it does not stick together.

Italian pasta is considered the best, but the price of the product is also quite high. However, once you try real Italian pasta, you will never forget the taste and it will not be possible to compare them with a budget version of pasta.

Cooking secrets

Cooking pasta in a saucepan seems easier than ever, but this is only at first glance. If you overdo it or misjudge the amount of water, you will end up with a porridge of dough and a cooked, sticky lump instead of a side dish. Therefore, when preparing pasta, you should adhere to certain rules.

Advice! To prevent the pasta from sticking, you need to pour a large spoon of vegetable oil into the water and actively mix the contents of the pan.

In a saucepan

Cooking a side dish in a saucepan is the most common method. You need to choose a fairly large pan and pour water into it; the amount of liquid should be large. Half a standard pack of pasta requires about three liters of water. Boil water and add salt.

The pasta should only be placed in boiling water and stirred quickly so that it does not have time to stick together and stick to the pan. If you don’t mix them right away, then no matter how many minutes you cook the pasta, it will still be lumpy. If you need to cook spaghetti, then there is no need to break it to immerse it whole in water, just put it down and wait until the bottom part becomes soft. They will gradually sink into the water on their own, it is important not to forget to stir.

Cook the side dish with the lid open and over low heat. Cooking time is 5-10 minutes depending on the size and thickness of the product. After the side dish is cooked, place it in a colander and, if necessary, rinse with water. It should be noted that you should not rinse with cold water; it is better to rinse with hot water if necessary.

Cooking using kitchen appliances

Various kitchen appliances, such as a multicooker, a steamer and a microwave, have long been part of the life of housewives. You can also cook pasta in them.

• • In the microwave, the product will be cooked in 10 minutes at full power. The ratio of salted water and pasta should be 2 to 1, the water should cover them completely.

• In the “Steam” mode, pasta will be cooked in a multicooker in 12 minutes. It is important to pour in the right amount of water; it should hide the side dish by two centimeters. In addition, you need to add salt and butter.

• Pasta in a steamer is considered the most useful. You need to cook it for 15 minutes. Then also place in a colander and drain off excess liquid.

Particularly sophisticated cooks manage to cook a side dish even in an electric kettle. Despite the fact that it resembles fiction, everything is quite real. You need to boil water in a kettle, add the pasta and press the kettle button for 7 minutes at short intervals of half a minute, then drain the water and take out the finished side dish.

When observing the cooking time, it is important to pay attention to the readiness of the product. Sometimes the specified time may not be enough. You can check the readiness by tasting the dish. By the way, in Italy, slightly undercooked pasta is considered a sign of good taste.

How to properly cook pasta in a saucepan, slow cooker, double boiler, microwave and how long it takes.

You need to cook pasta correctly

Also, it is impossible to find a person who has never tried it. Whatever you say, it’s simply impossible to imagine any kitchen without pasta. All that remains is to learn how to cook them correctly. After all, pasta, like any dish, has its own secrets that you need to know.

To cook pasta correctly, you need to remember a few rules

To cook pasta, you should use an ordinary saucepan of a suitable size. Some, for some reason, advise choosing a pan with thick walls. Although I have a hard time imagining which walls of a pan are thick and which are not. I’ll add on my own behalf: use any utensils in which you feel comfortable cooking, and it will be correct.

During cooking, pasta absorbs water, so there should be enough water. It is easy to calculate its quantity. To do this, you need to remember that at 100 gm. Pasta should be filled with about 1 liter of water. Drain the remaining water after cooking through a colander.

The remarkable quality of pasta is that it cooks quickly and can be prepared for future use. The next day, just heat the pasta in a frying pan or in the microwave, or pour over hot sauce or gravy. Or you can put them in boiling water for 15-20 seconds and they will again look like they were just cooked.

Now let's find out how to cook them correctly.

1. Place a pan of water on the stove, close the lid, turn up the heat and wait for it to boil. We pour water, as I already said, at the rate of 1 liter of water per 100 gm. pasta
2. Place the pasta in boiling water and stir immediately to prevent it from sticking. There is no need to cover the pan with a lid, this will make it easier to monitor the cooking.
3. We wait for the water to boil again, reduce the heat by half and continue cooking until tender. Approximately a couple of minutes before turning off the pasta should be salted.
4. Pasta is cooked for 9-12 minutes. The time depends on the type of pasta and to find out, just look at the packaging. The cooking time should be written there. But it’s better to taste the pasta and thus determine its readiness.
5. After the pasta is cooked, place it in a colander and quickly rinse under running tap water to prevent it from sticking together. There is no need to rinse for a long time, otherwise they will cool down.

Transfer the cooked pasta to the prepared bowl and put a piece of butter in it. It will melt, soak the pasta and they will not stick together. If you have prepared sauce or gravy, pour it over the pasta and cover with a lid. It is better if the gravy or sauce is hot, then the pasta will not cool down.

The traditional and most convenient vessel for cooking pasta is a saucepan. It is what is most often used for preparing pasta dishes. But, in addition to the pan, multicookers, steamers, and also microwave cookers are used to prepare pasta. I witnessed when in one of the hostels pasta was boiled in an electric kettle.

How to cook pasta in the microwave

To cook pasta in the microwave, you need to place it in a special deep bowl. Pour in hot water so that the water level is a finger above the level of the pasta. You can immediately add spices and salt to taste. Place the pasta in the microwave, turn it on at full power and set the time to 10 minutes. After the pasta is cooked, drain it in a colander, transfer it to the prepared dish, add oil, sauce or gravy.

Video: How to cook pasta in the microwave

How to cook pasta in a steamer

It will take 15 minutes to cook the pasta in a double boiler. Pour water into the steamer, fill the bowl with pasta and fill it with water. Add spices, salt and pepper. To ensure that the pasta does not stick together, add a tablespoon of vegetable oil to it. Close the lid and cook until done. Drain in a colander and transfer to the prepared bowl.

Video: How to cook pasta in a steamer

How to cook pasta in a slow cooker

Place the pasta in the multicooker bowl and fill it with water. Throw in a small piece of butter; it will speed up the cooking and prevent the pasta from sticking. Salt, pepper, add spices if desired. Turn on the “Multi-cook”, “Pasta” or “Pilaf” mode. Cooking time depends on the type of product and ranges from 9 to 12 minutes. In any case, before rinsing the pasta, you should always taste it to determine readiness.

Video: How to cook pasta in a slow cooker

What is the difference between pasta

All pasta products are different from each other. They are prepared from different types of flour, the production technologies are also not the same, and they differ significantly in appearance. Pasta can be long and straight, it can be hollow or in the form of ribbons, pasta can be wavy, curly, or shaped like rings or curls.

Certain types of pasta have some differences in preparation, which should not be forgotten. This is especially true for tagliatelle (translated as nests), as well as spaghetti, lasagna, long pasta, vermicelli and papperdelle (as egg noodles are called in Italy).

Italian pasta is called spaghetti. It is customary to cook them al dente. Translated from Italian, “Al dente” means “To the tooth.” In order for the spaghetti to be sufficiently elastic and keep its shape, it should be removed from the heat 1-2 minutes earlier than the time indicated on the package. Spaghetti should always be cooked whole, there is no need to break it, and to prevent it from sticking together, add 1 tablespoon of olive (vegetable) oil to the water.

Long pasta is dipped at one end into very boiling water. After the ends of the pasta dipped in water become soft, you should lightly press on the protruding dry ends and immerse the spaghetti completely in boiling water.

Pasta, like other pasta, should not be salted during cooking. The boiling water should already be sufficiently salty with the addition of pepper and the necessary spices. This type of cooked pasta should not be rinsed with cold water. They immediately add oil, sauce or ready-made gravy. The pasta is cooked for 10 minutes.

Tagliatelle pasta (in common parlance, nests) is made from egg dough and always served with Bolognese sauce. If you haven't tried it, I highly recommend giving it a try. In our stores this sauce is sold under the name Bolognese.

Tagliatelle is usually prepared in cafes and restaurants using special forms. If you don’t have the necessary molds on hand, you can use an ordinary frying pan and use empty cans without lids as molds.

The inside of the jar is greased with vegetable oil, a nest is placed in it and cooked until tender. In this case, the pasta will not boil and break. We carefully remove the cooked nests from the jar, place them on a dish and stuff them with the prepared filling.

The recipe for making long pasta and lasagna is almost no different from making spaghetti. The only difference is that they are often broken. This is unacceptable with pasta.

To prepare lasagna, you need to boil the pasta until half cooked and drain in a colander. Then, transfer the pasta to a suitable pan, pour in the prepared sauce and leave to simmer for 2-3 minutes. Now, place the pasta with sauce on a baking sheet, sprinkle with grated cheese and place in the oven to bake until an appetizing golden brown crust forms.

Video: Cooking pasta

How long should you cook pasta?

Product	Cooking	Frying	Extinguishing
Small pasta	6-8 min	-	-
Penne	10-12 min	-	-
Shells	12-14 min	-	-
Large horns	10-13 min	-	-
The horns are thin	8-10 min	-	-
Spaghetti and long noodles	9-11 min	-	-
Spaghetti thin	3-5 min	-	-
Spirals	12-14 min	-	-
Farfalle (butterflies)	10-12 min	-	-
Fettuccine	11-13 min	-	-