Understanding and Cooking Fresh and Dried Pasta

Everybody loves pasta and, if ever there was a politically correct food for the nineties, this is it! Cooking pasta is easy. It is healthy (at least, if the sauce isn't too rich). And it can be dressed up for company or dressed down for a quick family meal.

At the supermarket today, you are going to be presented with two types of pasta—fresh and dried. We like them both and feel that each has its place.
Fresh pastas are found generally in the refrigerated or deli section of your supermarket. They are sometimes frozen, but then must be cooked from a frozen state. (Defrosting first will turn fresh pasta into one solid mass of dough.) Fresh pasta is excellent with light, delicate sauces, for example, our Olive Oil, Garlic, and Herbs. Fresh pasta cooks very quickly, literally in 1 to 2 minutes in boiling water.

Dried pastas are best with hearty, meaty sauces—like those Mom used to make. Dried pasta does take a bit longer to cook than fresh, but it is still a candidate for the "quick-cook" approach to dinner. Package directions for dried pasta generally call for 6 to 14 minutes of cooking time depending on the size of the noodle. We frequently find these times a bit too long for our taste, and in a moment we will discuss how to determine doneness.

Whether using fresh or dried pasta, always start with plenty of water. We recommend 8 quarts to cook 1 pound of pasta. Pasta water should always be salted, but we recommend you do so after it comes to a boil. Unsalted water boils more quickly than salted water and you are not as likely to corrode your fine pots. Many recipes will recommend adding 1 or 2 tablespoons olive oil to the pasta pot. There is certainly no harm in this but we have not seen it make much difference.

We now need to discuss that all-important Italian pasta cooking term, al dente. This means literally "to the tooth," or, in other words: Cook the pasta until tender but still firm to the bite, not mushy. We feel that there is only one way to truly test if the pasta is done: Pull a piece out of the water with tongs or a fork and taste it. You may have heard of the idea of throwing a piece of spaghetti against the wall to see if it sticks (the thought being that if it does, the pasta is done). You are welcome to try it, but please don't ask us to recommend house painters.

Drain your pasta in a colander that is large enough to hold it all, so it doesn't slide out into the sink. Rinse only if you are not going to sauce and serve it immediately. If using pasta later or in a pasta salad, rinse well and then toss with 1 or 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or olive oil to keep it from sticking.

This content is from the book The Basic Gourmet by Diane Morgan, Dan Taggart, Kathleen Taggart, and Georgia Vareldzis.