There are many theories about how much water, salt and time are required to cook the perfect pasta.
Italians cook pasta slightly al dente, but many people prefer to have it perfectly cooked – and yet not overcooked.
EGG OR REGULAR PASTA
Normally, if you’re about to cook egg or regular pasta, you’ll need 11 of water every 100g of pasta – but if in doubt, be generous with the amount ofwater.
When cooking large pasta like paccheri, fusilloni, spaghettoni, etc. it’s better to use about 10% more water.
Speaking of salt, when pasta requires a long time to be cooked, you’ll need less salt, since pasta tends to absorb it through time. You’ll need more if the cooking time is short.
Generally, you’ll need around 6/7g of salt per litre of water every 15 minutes and around 9/lOg of salt per litre every 5/10 minutes. When using high quality pasta, it’s better to avoid using more than 8/9g of salt per litre of water.
Pasta must be put in water when it’s boiling and has already been salted. Drain pasta about one minute before it’s perfectly cooked if you’re going to mix it with a sauce in a pan.
Always keep 1 cup of cooking water that you’ll add to complete cooking, if necessary.
A serving of pasta is generally 60/80g, 30/40g for soups, 150/250g for stuffed pasta. If it’s whole-wheat pasta, you can add 50g per serving.
