Pasta cooking time

[mightymouse]

Most supermarket pastas..spaghetti, conchiglie, etc. state 10-12 minutes cooking time. Well, I know the difference between undercooked, Al Dente, and overcooked, but even with a very fast boil, I find that most brands need 15 minutes to be perfect. Very hit and miss........comments?

[merciasounds]

And the answer is, you are all right! It depends on the type of pasta, I find egg pasta cooks more quickly, for some reason flavoured pasta ) eg spinach, tomato or mushoom) takes a minute or two longer, the shape - riggatoni with it's thick ridges will take longer than say, spaghetti - plus, you know how you like it. I've been served 'al dente' pasta that wasn't, it just hadn't been cooked enough, to stuff that resembled wallpaper paste because they liked it ultra soft - another answer is, try fresh - toss into boiling salted water, and when it rises to the top, it's cooked.

[crisgal]

the oil thing is an old wives' yale, and not even an italian wife!
I cook mine for one minute less than it says and then check. You do need loads of water - it needs to move around. English peeps don't use a big enough pan IMO.

[Cowtipper]

The timer starts when the water returns to a boil and not when you add the pasta.

[Answerprancer]

I cook pasta until it's just shy of 'al dente' then I fry it with onions, garlic, tomato puree and sauce - this works well for me.

[crisgal]

that's a good point, cowtipper, perhaps they are timing from when they drop it in?

[vivandorron]

I am pleased that it is not past a time for further comments.:-)

Cowtipper...You are spot on.

Answerprancer...The sort of thing I am inclined to do. I like my pasta really rolled in the sauce.

merciasounds, crisgal and others have all commented sensibly. Accordingly, I hope therefore, mightymouse, that they and I have been of help to you.

Ron. ☺☺☺

[crisgal]

always add the pasta to the sauce - never the other way around :)