Simple Pasta Recipes - The Correct Way To Cook Pasta Depending On Its Type

Pasta is easy, delicious and comforting but only if you know the correct way to cook pasta. Over-cooking can make your dish soggy and under-cooked pasta is chewy and I bet you don't your favourite pasta recipe to be any of the two.

Cooking pasta perfectly needs your attention and the process is quite precise and you have to be careful with the timings. The best way is to cook pasta while your sauce is cooking. You have to make sure that your pasta is cooked by the time your sauce is done so that it does not stick together while sitting and waiting for the sauce. It might seem tricky but it becomes super easy if you follow few tips to know the correct way to cook pasta.

Correct Way To Cook Pasta Depending On Its Types

Different types of pasta need different coking time. This difference is due to length, thickness, dish it is being used in and even the brand of pasta. When you are using a specific brand of pasta, make sure you stick to the timings and method mentioned on the package to make sure your pasta is cooked perfect. Otherwise, just stick to the traditional method to cook pasta depending on its type that we will describe here.

First of all, you should know what is al dente. Al dente is an Italian term which means "to the tooth". It actually refers to food that is firm to bite. You have to cook your pasta such that it is firm to bite, i.e., al dente. Another thing is that thick and long pasta needs more time to cook as compared to thin and short pasta. Okay let's have a look at the correct way to cook pasta of different types.

• In a pan, bring water to a boil. You should use approximately 950 ml water for boiling 450 gm of pasta.
• Now add salt to the water. For 450 gm of pasta, add 1-1/2 tbsp salt.
• Add pasta and then stir. Let the pasta cook for the timing prescribed below depending on its type.

These steps are the basic steps that you need to do in cooking all types of pasta. Cooking different pasta differs only in the timing you cook it for. Here are the timings that you should follow to cook different pasta.

• Soup Pasta

  Soup pasta, as the name suggests, are used in making soups. Thicker pastas go well with thick soups while thin pastas go well with light broths. Soup pastas like acini de pepe, occhi di pernice and filini take 4-6 minutes while pastas like alphabets, stelle, quadrettini, bow tie, baby shells, stortini, corallini, couscous, grattini, tempestina take 7-9 minutes to cook. Thick soup pasta like pastine takes 13-14 minutes and pearl pasta takes 11-13 minutes.

• Strand Pasta

  Strand pasta are round or square long rods of pasta like spaghetti, vermicelli, fedelini, ciriole etc. These strands can be thick and thin depending on various varieties. Thick strand pasta like spaghetti, fusilli lunghi, ciriole, chitarra, bigoli take around 9-12 minutes to cook while thinner pasta like angel hair, barbina, capellini vermicelli and fedelini take around 2-6 minutes to cook.

Penne Pasta Recipe With Arrabiata Sauce

• Tubular Pasta

  Tubular pasta is a hollow pasta which is in the form of pipes. It is usually used to cook thick sauce pastas, casseroles and salads. Pasta like penne, macaroni, rigatoni, tufoli, ziti and others take around 7-13 minutes to cook perfectly.

• Shaped Pasta

  Shaped pasta are quite sturdy and hence, they can hold heavy sauces really well. They are usually available in dry form and are used in casseroles and salads as well. Shaped pasta usually takes around 6-12 minutes to cook except some thicker pastas like rotini, radiatori, rotelle, quadrefiore, lumache, croxetti, conchiglioni cencioni, cavatelli and bumbola that take 13-19 minutes to cook properly. Also fresh gnocchi (pasta with little lumps of potato) takes 2-4 minutes to cook but dried gnocchi takes 8-10 minutes to cook.

• Ribbon Pasta

  Ribbon pasta are long, flat sheets of pasta that are usually cooked with heavy sauce. Fresh pasta is cooked with lighter sauce while dried with heavy sauce. Ribbon pastas can be thick or thin or wavy depending on its types. Bravette, pillus take 5-9 minutes, fettuccine, pappardelle, tagliatelle and tripoline take 7-10 minutes, kluski, mafalde take  9-12minutes, lasagne take 10-13 minutes, linguine and trilette take 6-9 minutes to cook.

• Stuffed Pasta

  Stuffed pasta are fresh or frozen pasta sheets that are stuffed with fillings and then the pasta sheets are folded and sealed. These fillings can be of meat, vegetables, mushrooms and cheese. After cooking, stuffed pasta is usually added to light sauce, baked dish or salads. Frozen pasta takes 2-4 minutes longer than cooking time of fresh pasta. Fresh stuffed pasta like pansotti, ravioli, tortelli, agnolotti and cappelletti take 3-9 minutes to cook while pasta like cappelloni, manti and mezzaluna take 9-14 minutes to cook.

Now that you know how long you have to cook your pasta, cook it for the prescribed time and then switch off the flame and drain. Ribbon pasta and pasta sheets should be greased a little and arranged so that they don't stick to each other. Cook pasta such that you can add it to your sauce right after you drain it.

Fusilli Pasta Recipes

One thing that you should do is keep checking your pasta while it's cooking. You cannot always know the precise thickness of a pasta which may effect its cooking time. While cooking, take out a pasta piece and check if it is firm and tender as well. If it is, then it is cooked perfectly. You can drain it and add it to your favourite pasta sauce and enjoy.

Suggested Readings :

5 Simple Pasta Recipes You Can Master With Basic Cooking Skills