Even the most experienced housewives often have problems cooking pasta. Some do not know how much to cook pasta so that they do not crunch, others do not understand what needs to be done so that the elements do not stick together. For some, everything seems to be fine with the texture, and the dish turns out to be insipid and tasteless.
To boil a capricious product correctly, you need not just put it in water or milk and wait until it reaches readiness. There are many secrets that increase the chances of getting a quality dish. First of all, it is necessary not only to read the label, but also to correctly assess the condition of the component by its appearance and consistency.
Secrets of cooking delicious pasta
It is clear that there is no single recipe for making pasta. Too much depends on the type of product, its features, time heat treatment. True, there are several rules, the observance of which will allow you to cook the highest quality and tasty dish:
- Even when cooking, a little is added to the water. vegetable oil, then the elements will not stick together. Additionally, pasta is lubricated after the liquid is drained, but this time it is better to take butter.
- The volume of water is calculated depending on the weight of the dry product. For 100 g of pasta, at least a liter of liquid is required. This indicator does not depend on the type of products and their shape.
- Cheap pasta made from low-quality flour and with the addition of auxiliary components will never turn out delicious, no matter how you choose the ideal parameters. Therefore, you should not save much on the basic component.
- Immediately after the dry elements are lowered into the water, they must be mixed, then they will not stick together.
- If you want to diversify the side dish and make it healthier, then you should add a little to the water during the cooking process. beetroot juice. This will practically not affect the taste of the product, but it will acquire an interesting color and be enriched with microelements.
- It is strongly not recommended to salt pasta during the cooking process. The dry product must be lowered into already salted water.
Tip: Do not get hung up on the information that is indicated on the product packaging. These are just basic data that can help guide the approach. Depending on whether the product is boiled in water, in milk or in a slow cooker, the time can be noticeably increased or reduced.
Today, more and more housewives are wondering how to cook pasta in a slow cooker. This process is very simple, despite the fact that little depends on the cook himself:
- We put the dry product in a cooking container, pour a small amount dissolved, but no longer hot butter (can be replaced with vegetable). For 150 g of pasta, there is no more than a tablespoon of filling.
- Pour a lot of salted cold water, it should overlap the product by a couple of centimeters. You don't need to mix anything!
- We set the mode "for a couple" or "pilaf" and set the time indicated on the package.
If the product is a little damp, just keep it for a couple more minutes in hot water. If the pasta is slightly digested, then they must be washed under cold water, and then used for their intended purpose.
Rules for boiling pasta in water and milk?
Despite the fact that the process of cooking pasta in a saucepan is familiar to many, in practice only a few take into account its features. A high-quality side dish or a textured casserole can be obtained if you work according to this scheme:
- For 300 g of pasta we take three liters of water, 2 tablespoons fine salt and one and a half tablespoons of vegetable oil. The pot should be taken large so that the water fills it with a maximum of two-thirds, and even half is better.
- Bring water to a boil, add salt and oil, stir. We lower the pasta and knead well again so that the elements do not stick together and stick to the walls.
- Next, cover the pan with a lid so that the product boils as quickly as possible, then remove the lid and boil the mass until tender.
- At the very end, we drain the water. Now, either wash the pasta to use it further in cooking, or add butter to get a side dish.
Cooking in a saucepan milk soup this is a different story. To get not a mess with films, but a delicious breakfast or afternoon snack, you need to proceed according to the following scheme:
- For a liter of milk we take 200 g of any pasta (you can also use vermicelli, but it is better to take shells or horns), a tablespoon of butter, 2 tablespoons of sugar, a pinch of salt.
- Bring the milk to a boil, add salt, sugar and butter, stir.
- Add pasta and stir again. Bring to a boil (the foam should not rise) and reduce the heat to a minimum.
- Cook until the pasta is softened, they should not fall apart, it is better to let them retain their texture.
It turns out that cooking pasta is not so difficult. The problem is that not all of them are served right away, and after a few minutes the dish begins to lose its appetizing appearance and additionally boils down from its own temperature.
How to cook pasta for frying?
Numerous surveys show that even experienced housewives are not always able to tell you how to properly cook pasta, which will later be fried. A positive result depends on how timely the product is removed from the fire. Here you can use a simple trick. Boil the products until they begin to slightly increase in size. Then we try them, despite the density.
If the pasta is easy to bite and chew, but does not stick to the teeth, they can be removed. Otherwise, wait another minute and repeat the experiment. In the event that time has been lost and the elements have boiled, they can be used further. But at the same time, you will have to cook a casserole or something else at the highest possible temperature, using minimal amount sauces and liquid dressings.
It is not necessary to change the brand of pasta every time. It is better to choose one and bring the process of its preparation to perfection. Otherwise, you can get confused in the features of processing blanks and spoil even a quality product.
Macaroni is an internationally recognized side dish. Italians are the originators of pasta. The composition of this product is very simple: water and flour. Therefore, there is no particular use in this side dish, except for the moment when they are really high quality and made from durum varieties wheat, which have in their composition fiber, which helps to cleanse the body. Pasta is a simple dish and everyone can cook them. However, not everyone knows how much to cook pasta so that they do not stick together and turn into porridge. Experienced housewives have in their arsenal many secrets of high-quality cooking of this product.
What varieties to choose
Due to the popularity of this side dish, store shelves are filled with various types of pasta, they can be divided into weighted and packaged. Also, products are divided into different types according to their shape: spaghetti, spirals, horns, shells, stars, and so on. Of the variety of forms, the choice should be made only from personal preferences, who likes what. In addition, now you can find pasta from various kinds flour: buckwheat, rice and so on.
Classic pasta is made only from durum wheat flour, it is worth choosing from a variety of offers. Such products are easy to weld, and they do not stick together, unlike cheaper counterparts. When choosing a product, you need to pay attention to the packaging, if group A or higher grades are indicated on it, then this is exactly the pasta that is worth buying.
There are group B products made from soft varieties. This is a budget version of the product, they are inexpensive, but their quality is not the best. Cooking such pasta so that they do not stick together is extremely difficult.
The best are considered italian pasta, but the price of the product is also quite high. Nevertheless, once you have tasted real Italian pasta, you will never forget the taste and compare them with budget option pasta is not possible.
cooking secrets
Cooking pasta in a saucepan seems like a piece of cake, but it's only at first glance. It is worth overdoing or not guessing with the amount of water, and instead of a side dish you get porridge from dough and a boiled sticky lump. Therefore, in the preparation of pasta, it is worth adhering to certain rules.
Advice! To prevent the pasta from sticking together, you need to pour a large spoonful of vegetable oil into the water and actively mix the contents of the pan.
in a saucepan
Cooking a side dish in a saucepan is the most common way. You need to choose a sufficiently voluminous pan, and pour water into it, the amount of liquid should be large. Half a standard pack of pasta needs about three liters of water. Boil water and salt.
Place pasta only in boiling water, and mix quickly so that they do not have time to stick together and stick to the pan. If they are not mixed immediately, then no matter how many minutes to cook the pasta, they will still be lumpy. If you need to cook spaghetti, then there is no need to break them in order to immerse them entirely in water, it is enough to put them and wait until the lower part becomes soft. They will gradually sink into the water themselves, it is important not to forget to stir.
Cook the side dish with the lid open and over low heat. Cooking time is 5-10 minutes depending on the size and thickness of the product. After the garnish is cooked, it must be thrown into a colander and, if necessary, rinsed with water. It should be noted that it is not worth rinsing with cold water, it is better to rinse with hot if necessary.
Cooking with kitchen appliances
For a long time, various kitchen appliances, such as a slow cooker, a double boiler and a microwave oven, have entered the life of housewives. You can also cook pasta in them.
- In the microwave, the product will cook in 10 minutes at full power. The ratio of salted water and pasta should be 2 to 1, the water should hide them completely.
- In the "Steam cooking" mode, pasta will be cooked in a slow cooker in 12 minutes. It is important to pour right amount water, it should hide the garnish by two centimeters. In addition, you need to add salt and butter.
- Pasta in a double boiler is considered the most useful. You need to cook from 15 minutes. Then also put in a colander and drain the excess liquid.
Particularly sophisticated chefs manage to cook a side dish even in an electric kettle. Despite the fact that it resembles fiction, everything is quite real. It is necessary to boil water in the kettle, add pasta and for 7 minutes press the kettle button with a short interval of half a minute, then drain the water and take out the finished side dish.
When observing the cooking time, it is important to pay attention to the readiness of the product. Sometimes the specified time may not be enough. You can check the readiness by tasting the dish. By the way, in Italy, slightly undercooked pasta is considered an indicator of good taste.
8 months ago
Pasta has become a frequent guest in the kitchen of Russian housewives, because it is one of the easiest products to cook, and at the same time it is also useful, because they are a source of complex carbohydrates. However, due to their wide range on store shelves, the question often arises - how much pasta needs to be cooked so that they do not stick together, but reach readiness. Can you tell time by eye?
What determines the cooking time for pasta?
For a long time, only 3 types of pasta were known in Russia: horns, gossamer (small short vermicelli for soup) and spaghetti. Of course, they also needed to find out exact time cooking, but it has always been exemplary - most housewives pierced the product with a knife or bit it. And often it was possible to digest a little. Mostly focused on a period of 7-10 minutes, while pasta was cooked over medium heat and under the lid.
When the assortment of them in stores grew, it was said that each type of pasta (or pasta, if you use Italian names) requires a certain approach to cooking. This applies to the duration of cooking, the volume of the pan, the amount of water in it, as well as the power of the burner.
Speaking directly about Italian pasta, it can even be safely overexposed in water: created from durum wheat, it will not boil soft, will not stick together, so oil is not added to the pan.
How many minutes to cook pasta is influenced by several factors: firstly, it is the composition. If not used Wheat flour, and spelled (such fitness pasta is very popular today), the product will be cooked longer. The same applies to products from whole grain flour, amaranth. Secondly, it is important to pay attention to the shape and thickness: the thinner the pasta, the faster it will be ready, and the denser, the longer it will take to cook. Thirdly, it is important to take into account the power of the burner (water boils actively or barely gurgles).
There are several subjective points: what kind of result you want to get - soft pasta, suitable for casseroles, or al dente (“by the tooth”, as they like in Italy). And it is also important whether after the pasta they will languish in sauce, fried or baked.
Each manufacturer with a good reputation, especially Italian ones (for example, the brands Molisana, De Cecco, Casa Rinaldi), usually indicates the cooking time on the package with a specific type of pasta, so you do not need to look for additional information in third-party sources. In the absence of such information, it is better to refuse the purchase.
The difficulty lies in the fact that even within the same type of pasta, variations are possible: so spaghetti from the Molisana brand is cooked for 8 minutes, but from the Barilla brand - 9-10 minutes. In both cases, cooking to the state of "al dente" is meant, when the core remains dense. That is why all the figures below are indicative and are adjusted for each manufacturer.
So, how long to cook pasta in boiling water without covering it with a lid if you want to try a real Italian dish?
Small varieties of pasta that are used in soups and salads (thin short vermicelli, "grains", "letters" and the like) are cooked very quickly - in 2-3 minutes, so they are added at the very end of the main course.
Special attention deserves pasta that is not consumed alone: these are lasagna (sheets), canelloni (wide hollow tubes) and conchiglioni (large shells). They are boiled in order to be stuffed and baked afterwards, so they are never kept in water until they are completely soft: they must remain dense, otherwise they will lose their shape. Lasagna sheets are not cooked at all (unless indicated on the package), cannelloni are often also, but it is possible to immerse them in boiling water for 3 minutes. Conchiglioni are boiled for 5-7 minutes, after which they are stuffed, put into a mold, poured with sauce and baked for another 10 minutes so that they are fully cooked.
It is not enough to know how many minutes it will take to cook pasta - you also need to take into account the very method of their preparation. In order for the dish to come out no worse than in Italy, you need to know the following:
- First, choose the right pot: a long pasta needs a large and wide one, otherwise it will have to be broken or laid in parts, which will lead to uneven cooking.
- Secondly, cooking is carried out at the maximum power of the burner - the water must constantly boil.
- Thirdly, salt is introduced after the pasta is dipped into the water.
- Fourth, calculate the correct amount of water: for every 100 g of dry product, at least 1 liter.
If you plan to boil pasta, and then fry or stew them with sauce, reduce the cooking time indicated on the package by 2 minutes, otherwise after all the manipulations you risk getting a too soft product. As for adding olive oil, then, as already mentioned, high-quality paste does not stick together, so this step does not make much sense.
Pasta is one of the most popular and loved by many side dishes, which is not only delicious, but also quickly cooked, so in this article we will take a closer look at how much pasta needs to be cooked and how to cook pasta in a saucepan so that they do not stick together during cooking and turn out delicious.
How long to cook pasta?
In order for the pasta not to boil or, on the contrary, to undercook, you should know the time of their cooking:
Pasta should be cooked for 7-10 minutes after boiling water in a saucepan (the exact time is indicated by the manufacturer of the product on the package, as it depends on the quality and type of the product being produced).
Among the most popular types of pasta, their cooking time can vary from 3 to 15 minutes: ravioli is cooked for 3-5 minutes, nests are cooked for an average of 5 minutes, noodles are cooked for 5-7 minutes, shells and bows for an average of 10 minutes, spiral pasta is cooked for 10- 12 minutes, and horns 12-15 minutes.
Note: under the term pasta, it is customary to take pasta such as shells, horns, bows, feathers, spirals, cobwebs, therefore the above cooking time for pasta in a saucepan is also relevant for most of them.
To cook pasta in a saucepan, you need to follow only a few sequential steps:
- We choose a larger pan, while it is desirable that it has thick walls.
- We fill cold water in a saucepan at the rate of 1 liter of water per 100 grams of dry pasta.
- We put the pan on a large fire, cover it with a lid and bring the water to a boil, after which we add salt to taste (on average: a teaspoon of salt per 1 liter of water).
- Pour the measured amount of pasta into boiling water in a saucepan and wait until the water boils again, then reduce the heat by 2 times (so that the water does not continue to boil much), while stirring the pasta itself with a tablespoon so that they do not stick together.
- We look at the package how much to cook the selected pasta and measure the time (usually 7-10 minutes) after boiling water with pasta, while stirring the pasta every 1-2 minutes so that they do not stick together during cooking.
- At the end of the timer, we taste the pasta and if it is cooked (not raw inside), pour the water with the pasta into a colander over the sink and rinse the pasta with water.
- After the water from the pasta in a glass colander, pour them back into an empty pan or into prepared plates and add butter or sauce (optional). That's all! A delicious side dish is ready.
Let's take a brief look below helpful tips, which will help you cook pasta in a saucepan that is not sticky and tasty.
Useful tips on how to cook pasta in a saucepan so that it does not stick together
- Pasta should always be boiled in a large amount of water (at least 1 liter of water per 100 grams of pasta).
- After adding pasta to boiling water and until the end of cooking, do not cover them with a lid.
- It is better to salt the water after boiling the water, while it is better not to add salt while cooking the pasta.
- High-quality pasta often does not need to be washed, it is enough to drain the water from the pasta through a colander at the end of their cooking.
- In order for the pasta not to stick together during cooking, they should be stirred, and you can also add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to the pan.
In conclusion to the article, it can be noted that knowing how to cook pasta in a saucepan at home, you can always quickly cook for yourself and your loved ones delicious side dish for dinner. We leave our feedback and useful tips on how and how much to cook pasta in a saucepan on the stove in the comments to the article and share it in in social networks if it was helpful to you.
To make pasta tasty, you need to know how to cook them correctly and follow the rules. And which ones - we will show in our video.
- We take a saucepan and fill it with water: for 100 g of pasta - 1 liter of water. If you add less water, then the pasta will turn out sticky.
For one serving, as a rule, you need 100 g of pasta.
Those. for a family of three, you need to cook 300 g of pasta in a 3-liter saucepan.
2. Dip pasta only in rapidly boiling salted water. The fire under the pan should be maximum.
Immediately after this, cover the pan with a lid for 30 seconds so that the water begins to boil again.
As soon as the water begins to boil, remove the lid and reduce the heat (this must be done quickly, otherwise you can flood the stove).
3. Immediately after adding the pasta to the water, they must be mixed.
Otherwise, they may stick together and stick to the bottom of the pan.
Pasta is cooked for 10-12 minutes. Readiness is determined "by the tooth".
Undercooked pasta has a mealy layer at the bite site. Overcooked - sticky and falling apart. 
4. The first sample must be taken 1 minute before the minimum cooking time indicated on the manufacturer's packaging.
That is, if the products are cooked for 10-12 minutes, then you should try already at the 9th minute.
5. Do not drain all the water from the finished pasta, otherwise they will dry out.
It is best to pour 2-3 tablespoons of the water in which they were boiled before this.
Then drain the pasta in a colander, transfer them to a saucepan and add the remaining broth. 
It is also advisable to heat the colander before use so that it does not take away excess heat.
6. Pasta is served hot, preferably on warmed plates. Therefore, before cooking pasta, you need to prepare the sauce so that they do not have time to cool.
How wrong
- Save on quality. Alas, in this case, quality does not come cheap. It is better to buy pasta from durum wheat.
- You can not salt the dish during the cooking process. The water is salted before the pasta is dipped into it.
- Do not put pasta in a pan in which the water reaches the edge - you can pour over the stove.
- No need to rinse ready-made pasta cold water. Chilled pasta is not tasty.
