Days of future pasta
A good rule for cooking pasta is to take a saucepan large enough for the amount you wish to cook, and then get a bigger one. The bigger the saucepan, the faster it will come back to the boil after the pasta is added.
I like to season the water and then taste it before cooking. The salt should be quite apparent – not like the sea, but close to. Despite your impulses or bad habits, do not add oil to the water. At some point, people thought this would stop the pasta sticking together. It doesn’t, but it does coat the pasta when draining and stop sauce clinging to it.
I bring the saucepan to a high boil, drop in the pasta, and stir vigorously every 30 seconds. If I’m cooking spaghetti, I like to use tongs, otherwise a large spoon or fork will work.
The most essential thing about cooking pasta is timing. My other rule with cooking pasta is to take the recommended cooking time and subtract two minutes. If the packet calls for 10 minutes, I will cook for eight. I like to have quite a wet sauce and by the time I have drained the pasta and tossed it through the sauce to finish, it has cooked for the extra time.
If I can choose between fresh and dry pasta, I always choose dry. It is easier to get a reliable al dente. The only pasta I will always use fresh is ravioli or tortellini.
I was once scolded in the kitchen for putting a lid on a pot of pasta as it boiled. If it boils too aggressively, it can damage the pasta. There are few things worse than overcooked pasta. Overcooked lasagna is possibly okay, but only for its comfort. And maybe baked macaroni. Otherwise, overcooked pasta brings on a strong physical repulsion in me – partly brought on by the lack of care in letting pasta overcook, and partly for the despicable texture. It takes on water and loses its flavour, and there is nothing good about it.
I mostly eat pasta at home. It’s reliable and versatile, and a fine way to use up odds and ends from the pantry or the fridge. A small pasta such as strozzapreti can take an abundance of textures. I love a pasta of green vegetables: broccoli, spinach and zucchini, all chopped down and gently cooked in olive oil with a few capers, and some herbs to finish. Although parmesan is a go-to cheese with pasta, I like to use pecorino made from ewes’ milk. Another thing I like is a salted ricotta, which has a firm freshness to it.
Although I say I mostly eat pasta at home, there are few things better in Melbourne than the table at the back of Guy Grossi’s Cellar Bar and a bowl of spaghetti vongole
• or the bucatini all’amatriciana.