Load up the pot with lots of water
For a typical 16 oz. serving, you need five to six quarts of water. package of pasta.
You might be tempted to use less water to make spaghetti faster when you’re hungry and pressed for time. Don’t. Similar to how pasta requires a large pot, it also requires a lot of water to completely cover each strand.
Here’s a tip for making the water boil faster. Put a lid on the pot, but leave a portion of it exposed so you can hear the water begin to boil. Before you turn it down, leaving a space will also aid in preventing the water from boiling over.
We have experienced the stressful event of a covered pot boiling over.
Salt it good! Don’t just give a single tap of the shaker — you want at least a tablespoon for 6 quarts of water. In fact, a chef we know uses 2 tablespoons of coarse salt for 6 quarts of water! While many people suggest making it sea-water salty, that’s actually too salty! Slightly less salty than the sea is best.
But the salty water is necessary because it enhances the flavor of the pasta.
Making Seasoned Pasta Dough
1 Mix together some flour and salt. If youre making 4-6 servings of pasta, use 2 cups (240 grams) of flour and ½ a teaspoon (2.5 grams) of salt. Whisk the flour and salt together in a mixing bowl with a fork.[4]
- Save a little extra flour for rolling out the pasta.
2 Add the seasoning of your choice and 3 large eggs. Create a deep depression in the middle of the flour and salt mixture and crack the eggs into it. Add your selected seasoning to the eggs, then whisk the eggs and spices together with a fork.[5] You can try adding things like:[6]
- a couple of spoonfuls of fresh, minced herbs like parsley, basil, sage, or rosemary Softly pureed herbs will also give the finished dough a lovely, vibrant color.
- 1 or 2 roasted and pureed red bell peppers. These will give the pasta a subtle sweetness and an orangey-red hue.
- Adding a few pureed or ground chile peppers for some heat
3 Whisk together the flour, eggs, and spices. Gradually mix the flower into the eggs with your fork, drawing from the bottom and sides of the bowl. Continue to whisk the mixture until you have a soft dough.[7]
- At this stage of the procedure, don’t worry about incorporating every last grain of flour into the dough. Just whisk the mixture until most of the flour and eggs are incorporated.
4 Turn the dough out onto a clean counter and knead it. Once you have a soft dough, turn the bowl over and dump the dough and any remaining flower onto a clean, flat surface. Gently fold the dough over onto itself, flatten it out, and repeat until it becomes firm. Then, begin to knead the dough. Continue to knead until the dough becomes smooth, stretchy, and has few bubbles in it when you slice it with a knife.[8]
- Sprinkle some flour on the dough and/or your work surface if it sticks to your hands or the counter.
5 Let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes. Put the ball of dough into a clean, dry mixing bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a dinner plate. Let the dough sit at room temperature for about half an hour, or in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.[9]
- If the dough is chilled, bring it to room temperature before rolling it out.
6 Roll out the pasta and shape it as desired. Place your dough on a well-floured surface and cut it into 4 or more equal pieces. If you have a pasta machine, feed the dough through according to your machines directions. You can also flatten the pasta with a rolling pin and cut it into strips by hand.[10]
- Once your pasta is prepared, you have two options: cook it right away or freeze it. You can either freeze pasta on a baking sheet and keep it in freezer-safe containers until you’re ready to cook it, or you can air-dry pasta on a coat hanger or clothes rack overnight.
Advertisement Method
1 Choose a fine-grained salt for best absorption. Adding salt to the water during cooking will boost the flavor of your noodles and enhance the taste of the entire dish.[11] Fine-grained salts, such as a basic table salt, will dissolve more quickly and absorb into your noodles more easily than coarse-grained salts.[12]
- You can experiment with giving your water a slightly different flavor by adding finely ground sea salt or Himalayan salt, if you like.
- Other seasonings can be added if desired, but they won’t significantly alter the flavor of the noodles. [13] .
2 Add the salt when the water starts to boil. Once the water reaches a rolling boil, mix the pasta and the salt into the water. Waiting until the water boils may prevent the salt from slowing down the boiling process, and can also minimize potential damage to your pot.[14] 
{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/s/thumb/8/87/Season-Pasta-Step-13-Version-2.jpg/v4-460px-Season-Pasta-Step-13-Version-2.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”/s/thumb/8/87/Season-Pasta-Step-13-Version-2.jpg/aid10579980-v4-728px-Season-Pasta-Step-13-Version-2.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:259,”bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:410,”licensing”:”
3 Use 1.5 tablespoons (25.6 grams) of salt for every pound (.45 kg) of pasta. You will need to add a decent amount of salt (enough to make the water taste briny) if you want to make any difference to the flavor of the pasta. If your pasta isnt salty enoughexperiment with adding a little more salt for future batches.[15]
- Pasta that has received too much salt may clump and become sticky.
Advertisement
Stir to keep the pasta from sticking
Don’t stray from the stove to check Insta or see what people are tweeting
