mini-project2: craving some italian food?

photo credit:Matthew Ho

Science!

Pasta added to water before it starts to boil gets a heat start on softness of the noodles. Pasta quickly begins to break down in tepid water as the starch dissolves. You need the intense heat of boiling water to "set" the outside of the pasta, which prevents the pasta from sticking together. That's why the fast boil is so important; the water temperature drops when you add the pasta, but if you have a fast boil, the water will still be hot enough for the pasta to cook properly and your pasta will not turn out as perfect as it should.

Materials:

• Water
• a pot
• an utensil to stir the pasta
• salt
• pasta noodles
• drainer

How to cook pasta noodles:

1. Fill a large stockpot with water. The more the better - pasta only sticks when cooked in too little water.
2. Add salt. Salt makes pasta taste better, and won't appreciably increase the sodium level of your recipes. Use 1 teaspoon per gallon of water. At that level, 2 ounces of uncooked pasta (1 cup cooked), the FDA serving size, absorbs about 20 mg of sodium which is about 1% of the recommended daily sodium intake.
3. Bring the water to a rolling boil. This means a boil you can't stop by stirring.
4. Measure the pasta you need. Pasta generally doubles in size when cooked, so 1 cup uncooked = 2 cups cooked. Refer to the recipe if necessary.
5. Slowly add the pasta to the boiling water. Ideally, the water shouldn't stop boiling, but if that happens, it's ok.
6. Stir and stir some more! Pasta will stick together if it isn't stirred during the crucial first moments of cooking.
7. Start timing when the water returns to a boil. Most pastas cook in 8-12 minutes. Check the package directions!
8. You can regulate the heat so the pasta/water mixture doesn't foam up and over the pot sides. Lower it the tiniest bit, and everything should be under control.
9. Really the only way to tell if the pasta is correctly cooked is to taste it. It should be 'al dente' - firm, yet tender, with a tiny core in the middle.
10. You can also cut into a piece you've fished out of the pot. There shouldn't be any solid white in the center of the pasta - just a shading to more opaque cream.
11. Now drain the pasta into a colander placed into your kitchen sink. Lift the colander and shake off excess water.
12. Don't rinse if you're serving a hot dish. That removes the starch that helps hold the sauce. If you are making a cold salad, rinse so the salad isn't sticky.

HOW TO WITH A VIDEO DEMONSTRATION!