Ever wonder why some pasta dishes taste like vacation in Italy while others fall flat? The answer is more than blind luck; it comes down to pasta selection and cooking technique.
As a lifelong cook and hopeless pasta nerd, I know this or that about making pasta. I wrote this guide to share my secrets so that you too, dear reader, can make your fictional nonna proud.
Selecting Pasta
Buy only dried pasta imported from Italy. For reasons of organic agriculture and culinary tradition, no one can make pasta quite like the Italians. (Fresh pasta, though not the focus of this guide, should be made locally and consumed quickly, ideally on the same day you’ve brought it back from the deli.)
Pasta should be made from semolina — the coarse, golden-skinned flour made from European durum wheat. Semolina has a richer aroma and flavor than the wheat used to make all-purpose flour, and its higher protein content helps the strands hold their shape.
Commercial pasta is made in machines that mix flour and water to form a dough, knead it, and then extrude it through shaped openings called “dies.” The dies can be coated with bronze, more traditional but difficult to use and maintain, or teflon. Pasta extruded through bronze dies is considered better because the bronze, a porous metal, gives the strands a rough surface that absorbs more sauce.
Since pesticides can seep into our food, pasta made from organic semolina is by far the best option. When in doubt, look for the green EU organic logo on the label.
Not all pasta shapes are created equal: Long, thin pasta like spaghetti works well with light, oil-based sauces (its smooth surface doesn’t offer much for thicker sauces to cling to, making them slide off). Short, tubular pasta like penne is better for chunky sauces since their ridges and hollows that trap and hold the sauce.
Boiling Pasta
Cook your pasta in a large pot of boiling water, with a liberal amount of salt. As the pasta rehydrates, it absorbs the seasoned water, and every strand turns out evenly flavored. It makes little difference if you salt the water before or after it boils; the amount of salt doesn’t affect the water’s boiling point by all that much.
Don’t add oil to the water as it won’t keep the pasta from sticking. Instead, bring the water to a rolling boil and give the strands a quick stir after adding them to the pot.
Pasta tastes its best when cooked al dente. Italians use this term to describe pasta at just the right doneness — tender and no longer crunchy, but still toothsome and firm to the bite.
Most Americans cook their pasta to mush, but you have two reasons to cook yours differently: Al dente pasta has a rougher, more porous surface than pasta that’s been overcooked, so it holds sauce much better. It’s also easier on the stomach since it has a lower glycemic index and therefore digests more slowly.
To prepare al dente pasta, start tasting the strands 2–3 minutes before the recommended cooking time on the package. When the whiteness in the center cooks off and the pasta doesn’t snap, it’s al dente. At this point, the pasta’s surface should still hold its shape, and its surface should feel rough and sticky.
As soon as the pasta is cooked, fish it out and sauce it, then serve it. Don’t let it sit in the cooking water, or it will absorb too much moisture and become soggy.
Keep in mind that only dried pasta can be cooked al dente. Fresh pasta is a different ballgame; it cooks more quickly and comes out more delicate due to its higher moisture content. I have a friend who works as a line cook on the pasta station at an Italian restaurant. She likes to say that fresh pasta “is gummy” whereas dried pasta “has chew,” and that’s a good way to put it.
Saucing Pasta
As a general rule, there are two ways to sauce cooked pasta.
The quickest (and simplest) is to transfer the pasta to a bowl and, with the help of tongs or kitchen tweezers, toss it with the sauce. By doing so, you don’t really have to time the cooking of your pasta and sauce; you can prepare the sauce ahead of time and keep it warm over low heat.
The other, more advanced technique for saucing pasta is to finish cooking the pasta with the sauce. Start by preparing the pasta and sauce simultaneously, but in separate cooking vessels. Then, transfer the pasta to the same pan as the sauce three to four minutes before the recommended cooking time is up and finish cooking them together. It can take a few tries to get the timing right, but once you have, the results are phenomenal because the pasta soaks up more of the sauce.
In both cases, transferring a little pasta water along with the pasta is desirable. The water, seasoned with salt and thickened with starches, helps flavor and thicken the sauce.
Never rinse your pasta after cooking. Rinsing removes the surface starches, which add richness of texture and flavor and help the sauce cling.
Of course, there are more than two techniques for saucing pasta – especially for pasta dishes like Carbonara or Cacio e Pepe, where egg yolks or cheese serve as the main ingredients of the sauce – but these two are the ones that home cooks like you and me are likely to use the most; practice and master them.
Plating Pasta
Presentation matters. A well-plated pasta dish can take weeknight dinner from good to great.
To properly plate your pasta, grab a small portion of pasta using a pair of tongs or kitchen tweezers and twirl it against the side of your plate, creating a nest. Don’t overcrowd the plate; leave some space around the pasta mound. This not only looks more appealing but also allows the sauce to be showcased and prevents the pasta from becoming a mess.
Remember the finishing touch: A final sprinkle of cheese and a crack of fresh pepper.
Use hard, freshly grated cheese, such as Parmesan, Grana Padano, or Pecorino Romano. Pre-grated cheese often contains cellulose and doesn’t melt as smoothly, nor does it taste as good.
For the best flavor, crack whole black pepper onto your pasta just before serving. Avoid pre-ground pepper, be it from a jar or from a packet, because it has usually gone stale and is therefore less pungent.
Storing Leftovers
If you make too much pasta, reserve a ladle or two of the cooking water. Store the pasta and sauce in separate containers. When it’s time to eat the leftovers, reheat the sauce and pasta together, gradually stirring in small amounts of the cooking water until you reach the desired warmth and consistency.
Food safety experts strongly recommend refrigerating all leftovers within two hours of being cooked and consuming them within 3 to 5 days of refrigeration. This applies to home-cooked pasta too.