Boiling Water for Beginners - Pasta

Go ahead. Turn on the tap, put some fresh, clean H2O into that saucepan and slap it on the heat. If you are making instant noodles, coffee, tea, cocoa or some other "just add boiling water" type application, you are halfway done! But let's face facts: this type of cooking probably comprises less than ten percent of your culinary repertoire. If you have water on to boil, you could be making pasta, starting a soup stock, stewing, poaching or steaming. Chefs call these "wet cooking" methods and trust me, none is as simple as "empty packet into coffee mug, add boiling water, stir." Here are some pointers to get best results the next time you are cooking with boiling water.

Let's start with the most common application, pasta. Whether you are dazzling the kids with boxed Mac and Cheese or impressing the new neighbors with your 'secret family recipe' spaghetti, your pasta will only taste as good as the water you cook it in. If your water doesn't taste good straight from the tap, consider a filtration system. The models that screw onto your faucet are generally good quality and won't break the bank, but if price is an issue, get the pitcher style model. If your water is really bad, consider cooking with bottled water. I've seen cheap (read as "good enough to cook with") filtered water at the supermarket for 39 cents a gallon.

Second, remember that what little flavor your pasta gets will come from the water it is cooked in. If you like pasta that tastes like wallpaper paste, by all means cook it in plain water. If, like me, you prefer your pasta taste GOOD, then salt your water. Salt it well! Thanks to a neat little scientific principle called "equilibrium," it will be nearly impossible to make your pasta taste too salty. And for those of you that think, "What difference does it make? I'll be drowning it in Marinara," go ahead and try it both ways. You WILL taste the difference. If your pasta doesn't taste good plain, it can only take away from the flavor of your dish.

Some cooks believe that the salt keeps things from sticking together. That is a myth. STIRRING keeps the pasta from sticking together. When you add your pasta to the boiling water, make sure your water is at a ROLLING BOIL. Add all your pasta at once, then stir briskly for at least 30 seconds. This gives the starches in the pasta time to loosen up and get past that sticky stage. Stir frequently after that, but mind that you don't overcook. Nobody likes mushy pasta.

Pasta should be cooked "al dente" which means it still offers some resistance to your teeth. In other words, not oatmeal. Fresh pasta will cook in 2-3 minutes at most, where dried pasta will take 6-8. How do you know when it's ready? Well, you have to test it. My Grandma Castellano used to lift a piece of spaghetti from the pot and fling it at the wall. If it stuck, it was done. After 15 years of marriage I have learned that flinging spaghetti around the kitchen is not a good way to maintain wedded bliss. And yes, for the record, it has taken me most of those 15 years to learn that. So instead, when the pasta begins to look done, I lift one strand and bite the end off it. If it still has a dry, almost crunchy core, I let it cook about another minute. If it offers resistance but no dry, solid center, it's time to drain and sauce. Firm, properly cooked macaroni will not squish flat when it mixes with that heavy cheese sauce but will instead stay open to scoop up all that creamy goodness.

Cooks vary in opinion about rinsing their pasta. When my wife and I first met, she always drained her pasta, and then rinsed it with cold water. She said this stopped the cooking process. It also made me swear under my breath as I stirred ice cold spaghetti into my Grandma Castellano's secret family recipe Marinara. Remember that boiling water is 212 degrees. The hot water that comes from your faucet is more like 135-140 - nowhere near the cooking temperature of your pasta. If you MUST rinse your pasta (and I am a subscriber to the 'no rinse' theory), rinse it in HOT TAP WATER. You will rinse away excess starch and 'stop the cooking process' without bringing the temperature down too much. I personally believe that this small amount of starch on the surface of the pasta acts a little like glue and helps the flavors in the sauce more readily "stick." Also, let me offer one more piece of advice from a veteran of the pasta and sauce academy: let your sauce wait for your pasta - NEVER the other way around.

Another common misconception is that a little cooking oil in your boiling water will keep the pasta from sticking together. I have seen the most experienced chefs add a few drops of oil to the pot and they all gave the same explanation. While the oil does nothing for the flavor of the pasta, nor prevents it from sticking, oil prevents FOAMING. When the pot comes back to a full boil with all those loose starches floating around, it tends to foam and almost like clockwork, it will boil over. THIS is what the oil helps with - nothing more. I have, however, seen these same chefs use top of the line extra virgin olive oil for this. Considering its purpose, I say use the cheapest cooking oil you have in the house. It's going down the drain anyway.

So, to sum up, cook your pasta in good tasting clean water that has been generously salted, stir to prevent sticking, add oil to prevent foaming, don't overcook, and rinse or don't rinse at your own discretion. No pasta recipe out there starts with "4 cups bland overcooked pasta," so try to remember: if it's a pasta dish, avoid the boiling water myths and make sure your pasta tastes good all by itself. When you're cooking with a generations old "secret family recipe," the last thing you want is Grandma Castellano haunting you.