Other

121 Cooking Secrets to Impress Friends and Family

Chapter VI: Pasta, Rice and Potatoes

76. Cooking fresh pasta. Fresh pasta needs less water than dried pasta. To cook fresh

pasta, have a large saucepan of rapidly boiling water ready. Make sure you have

enough boiling water for the pasta to cook in. Add a little oil to the water, so the

pasta doesn’t stick together. Add pasta to the pan, ensure the water stays boiling

and stir slowly for 10 seconds to separate the pasta. Boil pasta for 2-4 minutes

depending on the type you’re using.

77. Untangle spaghetti before serving.

If you have allowed your spaghetti

to cool for too long and it becomes

tangled, toss it back into the hot

water and stir with a large spoon.

Then, drain and rinse the pasta in

cold water immediately. You can

add some olive oil if you’d like, but

it’s not a necessity.

78. Al dente pasta. Al dente means “to the tooth”. When it’s cooked, pasta should be

soft but still firm when you bite it. The easiest way to tell whether pasta is al dente is

to remove a piece from the saucepan and test it between your teeth. The pasta

should have some texture when you bite into it, but it should not be dry and hard in

the middle.

79. Cooking dried pasta. The most common mistake when cooking dried pasta is not

having enough boiling water. Have a large saucepan of rapidly boiling water ready.

Add a little oil and pasta to the pan, and stir for 20 seconds to separate the pasta.

Boil for 10-14 minutes depending on the shape of the pasta and the flour used. Drain

it and eat immediately without any extra oil or butter if you’ll be having it hot. For

cold pasta rinse it under warm water and then cold water.

80. Perfectly cooked pasta every time. For perfect pasta, do not boil the noodles!

Instead, boil the water and then turn off the fire and add the pasta. Cover, and stir

the pasta every five minutes for twenty minutes. Your pasta will never overcook,

and it will be perfect every time.

81. Make fluffier rice. For fluffier rice, add one teaspoon of lemon juice to the water

before adding rice. It won’t change the flavor but it will plump up the grains to give

you perfect rice.