how to stop pasta sticking to dish?

[kc79]

hi,i work in a school kitchen and every day we serve boiled pasta.it is put in a deep stainless steel dish (over a hot cupboard) with some butter but within minutes it is like sticky goop.we tried leaving water in with it but that just went mushy.has anyone got any ideas how we can stop this happening?

[almcd007]

You're over cooking it. If you are cooking dried pasta ( I assume it's dried to start off with) You need to slightly under cook it if you are going to keep it warm as it's continuing to cook whilst it's in/over the hot cupboard.

You could try slightly under cooking it, draining it, but then keeping the drainer over a simmering pan of water (similar to steaming) This will allow it to slowly continue to cook.

Pasta needs eating though as soon as it's cooked - it doesnt keep warm very well at all.

[spudqueen]

Put a drop of olive oil in the cooking water, before you put the pasta in. It really works!

[LOE123]

I have to do this at work, we chill the pasta as soon as it's cooked and then plunge it into boiling water when it's need this is how it's done professionally the oil thing is a wives tale, your pasta should never stick if your water is hot enough and you use a big enough pot with plenty of water!

[spudqueen]

Works for me everytime LOE123.

[sense4all]

To stop it being a huge gloopy lump at home as soon as it is ready we run it under cold water - then chill, as there are only five at home we nuke a portion for twenty secs. on full, then serve ... but for higher volumes in his restaurant our friend does the boiling water thing too.

[heathfield]

Loe123's answer is how it's done worldwide, from spaghetti in Italy to noodles in China.

[Aggi]

This is a question for LOE 123. How long can you keep the cooked pasta chilled for please?

[chick56]

Pasta must always be cooked as close to boiling over as possible.
it 's essential that you drain it out while still quite chewy. Once you mix it with a sauce it will absorb the sauce and soon become cloggy and soft, so it must be eaten immediately. Keeping it warm for more than ten minutes isn't a good idea.
Italian restaurants often prepare pasta in advance, but you must take it out of the boiling saucepan while it stil has a slightly hard inner texture. Pour it into a coulender and run cold water over it......this stops the cooking process.
Within 24 hours put in a large frying pan together with the sauce and a small drop of water and heat stirring frequently, and most important taste for the right chewy consitency which arrives fairly quickly. Beware, If you exceed the heatig time you'll end up with a gluey mess, but if done properly it's almost indistinguable from pasta made the same day. Some trial and error may be necessary.
Good eating.
chick 56 from Italy