Hi, The key to cooking pasta is to use lots of water and lots of salt! Cook it until it's just cooked -- you don't want mushy pasta! The Italians call it "al dente!" Fill your pasta pot about two thirds full with cold water. When it comes to a full, rolling boil, add at least a Tablespoon (I use more) of salt. The water should taste like the sea! -- or so the great Italian cooks advise! Then, drop in your pasta -- about a third of a pound should be fine for 2 people. Stir it when you drop it in so the strands of pasta don't stick to one another.
Set your timer for 9 minutes, and then lift out a strand of pasta with a long-handled wooden spoon or fork and taste it. If it's done to your liking, take the pot off the burner and drain it. It might need a minute or two longer -- you don't want it to be crunchy, you do want it to be done, but you don't want it to be mushy! Practice makes perfect! Of course, if you're cooking very thin pasta -- e.g., angel hair pasta -- it will take much less time -- the thinner the pasta strands, the less time they will take to get done. And, if you're using fresh (not dried) pasta, the cooking time will be *very quick - 1 to 3 minutes! Just heat the sauce in a saucepan or a microwave until it's hot. Enjoy your spaghetti dinner! and Hope this helps! Penny On 1/22/15, Holly Anderson via Cookinginthedark <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi all. Today I'm going to attempt something I've never done before, > spaghetti. I know its kind of sad. I'm making spaghetti for 2 people. I > have a spaghetti cooker, it has a section with holes inside a pot that the > spaghetti goes in. So when I lift the section with the holes out of the pot > the water will drain from the spaghetti. My questions are: > 1. How long do I cook he noodles? > 2. This one is probably depending on how much we eat. but I'm not sure how > much to make for 2 people. > 3. I have a jar of meat sauce, do I just put it in a pot not he stove and > simmer, how long do I cook the sauce, and how much sauce for 2 people. > > I know these questions seem basic, but I'm new to all this. And it might > just be a trial and error type thing, but I'm kind of nervous. Any help > would be really appreciated. > > Thanks. > Holly > _______________________________________________ > Cookinginthedark mailing list > [email protected] > http://acbradio.org/mailman/listinfo/cookinginthedark > _______________________________________________ Cookinginthedark mailing list [email protected] http://acbradio.org/mailman/listinfo/cookinginthedark
