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Cooking
Pasta is cooked in a heavy bottomed saucepan, 3/4 full of salted water.
You can, if you wish, add flavour to the boiling water, such as
freshly cracked black pepper, herbs, spices,
garlic, etc. Flavoring the boiling water this way,
will eventually flavor the pasta. The pasta needs to be able to move
freely in the boiling water, therefore use a big pot and enough water
for large quantities. Otherwise, it will become to starchy and sticky.
But you do not need massive amounts of water to cook your pasta in. A
general rule of thumb is that the pasta must be sealed with the
boiling water. Long dried pastas, like spaghetti, need
to be gradually pushed into the water. You will put the pasta in the pot
and wait till it softens, then push it in slightly, and so on until its
covered.
The perfect doneness of pasta is called 'al dente'; which is when the pasta is no longer hard to chew, yet has a slight bite, is firm and holding shape. With fresh pasta, al dente is when the pasta is firm, holds shape and too soft, which is overcooked. Do not over cook pasta - until it is too soft and loses shape.
The cooking time depends on the quality of the pasta, its size and the amount cooked. As a general guide (but do check your pasta while cooking to make sure): Dried Vermicelli takes 4-5 mins; Dried Long Pastas like Spaghetti take 11-12 mins; and large pastas take about 15 - 20 minutes. All fresh pastas take from 3-8 minutes, depending on their size. Timing begins when the water returns to boiling after the pasta had been added.
The perfect doneness of pasta is called 'al dente'; which is when the pasta is no longer hard to chew, yet has a slight bite, is firm and holding shape. With fresh pasta, al dente is when the pasta is firm, holds shape and too soft, which is overcooked. Do not over cook pasta - until it is too soft and loses shape.
The cooking time depends on the quality of the pasta, its size and the amount cooked. As a general guide (but do check your pasta while cooking to make sure): Dried Vermicelli takes 4-5 mins; Dried Long Pastas like Spaghetti take 11-12 mins; and large pastas take about 15 - 20 minutes. All fresh pastas take from 3-8 minutes, depending on their size. Timing begins when the water returns to boiling after the pasta had been added.
Serving
When using pasta in a salad, immediately after removing from the water,
drizzle it with olive oil so it doesn't stick as its cooling down. If
the pasta is to be served hot, drain after cooking has finished, and do not rinse, add the sauce its served with immediately and serve hot. In some
recipes, you might have to allow 1-2 extra minutes of cooking with the
sauce. In this case, reduce the first cooking time. One trick to make
the sauce stick to the pasta is to add a little bit of the water you used to boil the pasta
to the sauce. The starches released into the boiling water will act as
adhesives allowing the sauce to stick to the pasta.
There is a huge variety of sauces to be served with pastas. Many are tomato based, but there is also white sauce, flavored white sauces, browned or burnt butter sauces, creams, cheese sauces, bolognese, milanese etc. Pasta dishes often include meats, fish, shellfish, ham...etc. They are often served with herbs, cheeses, vegetables. Some pastas have fillings that include: meat, spinach with white sauce and cheese, mushrooms, sausages, or livers.
Pasta is usually served as an starter to a meal, usually followed by a meat/poultry/fish dish, but could also be served as a side to a main dish or as main at times.
There is a huge variety of sauces to be served with pastas. Many are tomato based, but there is also white sauce, flavored white sauces, browned or burnt butter sauces, creams, cheese sauces, bolognese, milanese etc. Pasta dishes often include meats, fish, shellfish, ham...etc. They are often served with herbs, cheeses, vegetables. Some pastas have fillings that include: meat, spinach with white sauce and cheese, mushrooms, sausages, or livers.
Pasta is usually served as an starter to a meal, usually followed by a meat/poultry/fish dish, but could also be served as a side to a main dish or as main at times.
Taken from different sources