Pasta: it's a staple of our everyday diet and one of the most commonly cooked ingredients, but it doesn't mean that everyone knows how to cook it properly. Here Gordon shows how to cook the pasta with just enough bite
Choose a pan that will allow the pasta to move around while it cooks. If it doesn't have the space then there is a good chance that the pasta will stick together or to the sides of the pan.
Fill your pan with water and bring to the boil. You can help speed up with process by using boiling water from your kettle.
Add a large pinch of salt to the water - salt adds flavour and helps the pasta cook evenly.
When you water is boiling rapidly and continuously add the pasta. Don't break the pasta, you want to keep nice long strands.
Stir the pasta immediately with a spoon or fork just to make sure that nothing sticks together.
Timing is quite simply the most important part of successfully cooking pasta so refer to the side of your packet and if needs be use a timer.
We are cooking a very thin pasta that cooks quickly, so this should be cooked in 3-4 minutes.
From time to time lift out a piece of pasta with a fork and bite it to see if it is cooked. Repeat this more and more frequently as the pasta nears the point of perfection.
The pasta is cooked when it is slightly firm to the bite, a condition called al dente. As soon as this point is reached you should stop cooking straight away and drain the pasta through a colander.
