Have Trouble Cooking Pasta?

Do you love pasta but have a terrible time cooking it properly? 

It happens all the time. You prepare your pasta to have with a great sauce, but after it's finished, the noodles are either overcooked or not quite finished, causing it to taste bad. There is hope, and with a little help from some easy tips, you too can learn how to cook great pasta regardless of what kind you're trying to cook or the recipe. You can prepare basic dishes like spaghetti and meatballs, or attempt chicken in the crock pot recipes that direct you to put the pasta in during the last half hour of cooking time.

An area that lots of folks have trouble is in knowing just how much water should be used when boiling the pasta. Simply remember that a good suggestion is to add about 4 to 6 quarts of water to the pot for each pound of pasta. Additionally, another hint you might not know about is to never put your pasta into the pot of water before the water has come to a full boil. Lots of folks think that it doesn't make a difference, but most likely those same folks have yucky, sticky spaghetti as a result. As soon as the water starts to boil, add the pasta while you stir it in and then let the water reach a boil again.

Perhaps you've always heard people say to not stir the noodles while cooking, but this is probably one reason why your spaghetti turns out badly. Stirring the pasta helps the noodles to remain separate and not stick together or to the pan. Read the package cooking directions and follow them so you'll know how long to cook.

Dishes such as chicken in the crock pot recipes like chicken noodle soup, may require pasta that is cooked alone and added to the slow cooker. A great tip to remember is to let the noodles cook to 'just done' and not limp so that it will hold up in the crock pot during the last 30 minutes of cooking. Same goes for casseroles that will be baked in the oven for additional cooking time.

So the big question, and the biggest challenge, is how to know when you've cooked the pasta long enough. Here comes the easy part. Just taste and see. Using a fork, remove a piece of pasta or spaghetti and eat it. The pasta is done if it's firm but not hard. Pour the water out of the cooking pot and do not let the noodles lounge around in the water. Another falsehood: you only have to rinse the pasta if you need it to be cold for a specific recipe or it you don't want to eat it warm. Makes sense doesn't it?

Well, there you go. A few simple tips on how to prepare awesome pasta. You love pasta, and your family adores it, so don't continue serving them sticky noodles. Practice makes perfect and it results in perfectly wonderful Oven Baked Pasta too!