Spagetti

[Dark Angel]

When boiling Spagetti, do you fill the saucepan almost upto the brim with water or do you fill the water a little above the spagetti, say about 1/2 inch?

[Stevie]

Hi Dark Angel

Just above the actual spaghetti .... to the brim isn't necessary, and besides, when the water returns to the boil, it's bubbling everywhere if there's too much !!

Stevie

[natalie_1982]

Like other pasta, and rice, I fill water about an inch above the spaghetti then add more if I need to.

[kev100]

Every brand of spaghetti I've ever used tells you to use 1 litre of water to each 80 grams of spaghetti.

(one and three quarter pints per 3 ounces)

[kev100]

Just as an afterthought Dark Angel if you are cooking for two i.e. 2 liters (3� pints)

Try this, put 3� pints in a saucepan and see how full it is.

[brachiopod]

Pata should be cooked in 'plenty' of boling, salted water.

Using 'plenty' of water means the pasta comes out less sticky, as the starch that leaches out during the cooking process is more diluted.

In practice, this means as much water as you can be bothered to wait for to boil - or as little as you think you can get away with !! But the more, the better is the general rule.

[crisgal]

i used to live in Italy and every household has a "pasta pan" - an enormous pan to be filled with water, regardless of how much pasta is being cooked. I was told to give the pasta lots of room per ballare!  (to dance)

[Gef]

Agree with crisgal and always add the pasta to boiling water never put the pasta in first.

natalie mentioned rice - if you want perfect rice everything must be measured "exactly".

[samhuzz]

What i do is cook it in salty water til it is cooked then rinse it in boiling water in a colander as it sometimes can become sticky and get stuck together. Same applies for rice.