How to Cook Perfect Pasta

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As part of the HOW TO COOK GREAT NETWORK - • http://www.howtocoogreatfood.com • Also take a look at our channel for other great cooking genres. • And look at the websites for in detail recipes, gallery and cooking tips. • http://www.howtocookgreatethiopian.com • http://www.howtocookgreatjamaican.com • http://www.howtocookgreatcurry.com • http://www.howtocookgreatfilipino.com • and many more - see you again soon. • Fill a large stockpot with water and add salt. The more the better - pasta only sticks when cooked in too little water. • 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. That's nothing. • Bring the water to a rolling boil. This means a boil you can't stop by stirring. • 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. • Slowly add the pasta to the boiling water. Ideally, the water shouldn't stop boiling, but if that happens, it's ok. • Stir and stir some more! Pasta will stick together if it isn't stirred during the crucial first moments of cooking. Don't add oil, because that will make the pasta slippery and the sauce won't stick to it when it's done. • Start timing when the water returns to a boil. Most pastas cook in 8-12 minutes. Check the package directions! • 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. • 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. • 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 color. • Now drain the pasta into a colander placed into your kitchen sink. Lift the colander and shake off excess water. • 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. On the other hand, I never rinse my pasta for cold main dish salads, simply because I like how the hot pasta absorbs the dressing. It's up to you! • Use the pasta in the recipe. Toss it into simmering sauce, mix it with a cold sauce, add to salads or use in frittatas. • • Below are a few Italian food words with English translations. • Zafferano: saffron Zampone: sausage-stuffed pig's foot Zenzero: ginger Zeppole: a fried pastry Verdure: green vegetables Vitello: veal (calf)Vongole: clams Taralli: round sweet or savory biscuits Tonno: tuna Torrone: nougat-type candy Torta: tart Salso: salt Saltari: sauteed Salumi: collective name for salami and similar cured meats Salvia: sage Sambuca: a colorless liqueur made from anise San Giuseppe: Saint Joseph Sarde: sardines Scaloppine: thinly sliced meat Sedani: celery Ragu: meat sauce for pasta Rapini: another name for broccoli rabe Ribollita: Tuscan bread and vegetable soup Ricotta: a fresh, mild cheese Ripieni: stuffed Riso: rice Risotto: rice cooked and stirred with broth until creamy Rollatini: small stuffed meat rolls, sometimes in a sauce Romano: a hard Pecorino cheese Rosmarino: rosemary • Rustico: country-style Pecorino: sheep's milk cheese Peperoncini: dried red chiles Pesto: a sauce from mashed ingredients, usually basil Piccante: spicy • Pignoli: pine nuts Piselli: peas Pizelle: embossed wafer cookies Pizza Dolce: cake or sweet bread Polenta: a type of cornmeal Polipi: octopus Pollo: chicken Polpette: meatballs Pomodori: tomatoes Porchetta: whole roast pig cooked with herbs and garlic Porcini: meaty wild mushrooms Primavera: springtime Prosciutto: salt-cured, air-dried pork Provolone: a straw-white cheese, sometimes smoked Olio: oil Olio di oliva: olive oil Origano: oregano • Orzo: small, seed-shaped pasta Ostriche: oysters Manzo: beef Marinara: a plain tomato sauce Marinare: to marinate Marsala: a rich brown fortified wine Mascarpone: creamy, soft, mild cheese Melanzane: eggplant Minestra: soup (usually thick) Minestrina: thin soup Minestrone: thick mixed vegetable soup Mortadella: a large cured and spiced pork sausage Mosto Cotto: grape juice cooked to form a thick dark syrup Mozzarella: a pure white soft cheese • Lauro: bayleaf Lenticchie: lentils Limone: lemon Gamberetti: shrimp

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