All about cooking pasta
Pasta is something that seems to mystify even some experienced cooks. When I refer to pasta here, I’m talking about Italian style pastas.
Cooking pasta:
For reference, half a cup of dried pasta generally yields about 1 cup of cooked pasta.
The ratio of water to pasta is important. If cooking pasta in too little water, the released starch will cause the pasta to be overly sticky. A good general rule is one litre of water for every 100g of pasta, and remember, that water should be at a rolling boil before adding the pasta.
When it comes to seasoning pasta, don’t be scared to add quite a bit of salt. A tablespoon [15g] salt for every 200g is reasonable. Obviously, in a professional kitchen you won’t be measuring or weighing your salt when tossing it in the steam kettle – so taste test – the water should taste like sea water, don’t worry, very little is absorbed by the pasta.
If you’re cooking pasta in a huge pot or steam kettle, remember that if you want something to boil faster, throw a lid or sheet pan on top of it. I see way too many people waiting around for 80 litres of water to boil in a steam kettle, and this is a little tip neglected in culinary school.
Also, to prevent boil-over when doing a large batch, toss in a SMALL amount of oil. It will break up the surface tension and prevent bubble formation. If your kettle is boiling over though, grab that spray wand and blast the bubbles. it will knock them down immediately – then turn down your kettle.
If you don’t have an approximate cooking time for your dried pasta, start checking the doneness around the 8 minute mark.
Another important point to make about cooking large amounts of pasta is that as long as that pasta remains hot, it is still cooking. So while it may be perfectly al dente when you test it, consider it will take you at least 5 minutes to remove all that pasta from the steam kettle and put it into inserts or onto sheet trays with oil. By that time it is overcooked.
Serving pasta:
If you’re holding the pasta to be reheated later, remove it from the water a little more al dente than normal, drain well, and toss in a little oil. Spread evenly and thinly onto sheet pans, and put on a rolling rack in the cooler. Wrap it well once cooled.
Normally, pasta should not be tossed in oil, but rather tossed in a little of the sauce it is being served with. Tossing pasta in oil forms a barrier that will cause the sauce to slide off rather than cling. Likewise, don’t rinse pasta before serving. The surface starch helps the sauce cling.
