Probably one of the most popular side dishes, and certainly the easiest to cook foods are pasta. It would seem that it’s easier - I threw them into the water and let them boil, but even here you need to know how to cook pasta correctly, otherwise even such a simple dish may not work.
Usually we do this: we collect water in a pan, wait until it boils, put salt, pasta and cook them until tender. Water, as a rule, is not very much - usually exactly as much as is placed in a pan, but this is not entirely correct. In addition to the amount of water, there are many different factors that influence how pasta is made.
The most common misfortune is that pasta is sticky. This problem can occur for several reasons. The most common is the quality of pasta. The cheapest pasta is made using flour from soft varieties of wheat of the lowest quality, and well, if at all from wheat. No matter how good a specialist you are in how to cook pasta, you will still not be able to cook them properly. As a rule, such pasta has a dirty gray hue, but recently manufacturers have resorted to various tricks in order to hide it, in particular, they use dyes, often elegant and appetizing yellow. This color of pasta suggests that perhaps they have something to hide, but this is not an indicator of quality, since quite conscientious manufacturers can paint pasta, just so that the product does not look pale against the general background among competitors in cheerful colors. It is worth noting that in the food industry carotenoids are usually used as yellow dyes, and they are not harmful, on the contrary.
The indicator of the quality of pasta will be the number of crumbs and broken pieces at the bottom of the package. It is clear that during the transportation anything could happen to them and they could break, but pasta of good quality will not crumble and crack into small pieces. The chips on them will be shiny and even, as if they were made of durable but fragile plastic. One way or another, but why do you basically need broken pasta? Get those in which there are no crumbs at the bottom of the package, and you won’t be mistaken. It is also worth paying attention to the appearance of pasta: their color should be uniform, the surface should be a little shiny, and high-quality products are as if with a translucent effect, like good porcelain - it is especially noticeable if you decide to cook pasta horns or, for example, shells, that is, curly and voluminous pasta, as well as thin vermicelli.
Choosing the right amount of water - this skill is also included in the mandatory training program on how to cook pasta. According to the classic Italian formula, a liter of water is taken per 100 g of pasta. Of course, if we do not plan a dinner party or an exhibition of our own achievements, then we can take a little less water, the main thing is that it should be at least seven times more in mass than pasta - in a large amount of water, pasta will almost certainly not stick together, and water will not will turn into terrible mucus, which then will have to be washed. It is best not to act on the eye, but, before you cook the pasta, measure the required amount of water.
Macaroni is placed only in intensely boiling salted water, in which you can also add a little vegetable oil - this will be an additional guarantee of an acceptable result. After the water boils again, it is necessary to stir the pasta so that they all separate from each other and from the walls and bottom of the dishes. In the future, you can mix them again, after about a couple of minutes, no more - then you should not do this, since the pasta will already be soft, or at least, if necessary, this must be done carefully. You should not be guided by the cooking time indicated on the packaging - you may need a completely different amount of time, since it depends on the amount of water and pasta, and on the intensity of the flame, and on the quality of the gas, and on the hardness of the water. In addition, only you know how to cook pasta for yourself - until the Italians favorite state is "al dente" or until ready, as is customary with us, so you need to try them periodically so as not to miss the right moment, otherwise they will be digested and again stick together.