Tuesday's Tip - Cooking Pasta

"I wouldn't exactly call it 'cooking' but I can make noodles. That means I can boil water, put the pasta in and wait until it's done"

- Devon Werkheiser

fun bowtie pasta

For those of you who don't know my alltime favorite magazine is Real Simple.  I also love to follow them on twitter because they post so many great tips throughout the week that are short and simple but really great ideas.   A while back they posted some tips for making pasta well.  Pasta is such a versatile food and can be used as a quick way to put together a meal.  Most everyone knows how to make pasta but if you follow a few simple tips you will get perfect pasta everytime.  I thought their tips were wonderful and wanted to pass them on to you. 

Tip #1:

Add oil to your pasta water

Despite popular myths this will not help your pasta keep from sticking together.  However, according to the Real Simple post it will keep the water from foaming up, which can really help prevent that dreaded boil over.  If there is one thing I really hate doing, it's scrubbing off cooked on pasta starch from my stove.

Tip #2:

Do not rinse your pasta.

The leftover starch actually helps the pasta sauce stick to the noodles but if you rinse the pasta the sauce will just slide off.  Plus who wants a watery sauce anyway?  Another quick tip here, save a little bit of the starchy pasta water, that way if your sauce is a little too thick you can use some of the starch water to thin it out.

Tip #3:

Always salt your water.

A good rule of thumb that my sister taught me is "you should salt your pasta until it tastes like pasta".  This is so true.  If you try unsalted pasta you will realize that it doesn't taste like pasta it tastes very bland.  The reccomended guideline is add 1 tablespoon of salt to the water for each pound of pasta.

Good luck and I hope your pasta turns out great!

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