How hard can it be to make pasta? Isn’t it just boiling water? That’s what I used to think. To me, the hardest thing about making pasta was waiting for the water to boil (I can be very impatient). But there is more to a great pasta dish than just dumping noodles into hot water as anyone who has ever had a dish of gummy, sticky, bland spaghetti might tell you.<br /><br />Having some Italian heritage, I feel a responsibility to know how to make great pasta dishes like the ones my mother made every single Sunday (along with matzoh ball soup for our Jewish side). I also have a duty to pass this knowledge along to others so you can all benefit from my many, many mistakes.<br /><br />This is probably the most common mistake when cooking pasta. Perhaps you don’t have a really big pot, or you just don’t want to fill one up and wait for it to boil. Cooking pasta in a small pot means there won’t be enough cooking water. When pasta is added to a small amount of water, the temperature of the water drops more significantly than it would in a large amount of water and it will take longer for the water to return to a boil. That means the pasta will end up sitting in non-boiling water for a good amount of time, resulting in gummy, clumpy pasta. Sticky pasta can also result from the pasta starch to water ratio being too high. Breaking spaghetti to fit into a small pot is considered a culinary crime worthy of extreme punishment.<br /><br />These are the most common mistakes people make when cooking pasta (in order of the cooking process) and how to avoid them:<br /><br />1. Cooking Pasta in a Pot That is Too Small<br />Unless you are cooking a single serving of pasta (does anyone do that?), fill a large pot with 5-6 quarts of water per pound of pasta. The pasta needs space to move around in order to cook properly and come out with perfect texture.<br /><br />2. Not Adding Salt to the Water<br />Another mistake often made with pasta is not adding salt to the cooking water or only adding a tiny amount. Pasta needs a lot of salt, but don’t worry, you don’t actually ingest all of it. Pasta doesn’t absorb salt like potatoes do so most of the salt will stay in the cooking water. The salt is important because it has contact with the surface of the pasta and keeps it from getting slimy as it cooks. Pasta needs plenty of salt because salt “roughs up” the surface and keeps it from becoming slimy. This abrasive action is not necessary for fresh pasta, only dried, but the second thing salt does is season the pasta. If the pasta cooks in plain water, it will taste bland. Once the water has come to a rapid boil, toss in a tablespoon or two of salt. <br /><br />3. Adding the Pasta to the Water Before it has Boiled<br />I think I have made this mistake more than others due to my impatience. Pasta has to be cooked in boiling water. As I m<br />...<br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JdfRQv9peI" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JdfRQv9peI</a>