A Faster Way To Cook Pasta?

A delicious plate of Spaghetti Pomodoro

Spaghetti, macaroni, linguine, tagliatelle, capellini, spaghettini, ravioli, you name it they're all kinds of pasta. If you've been making pasta the old fashioned way like I had been for the last 15 years, then you'd know that it takes quite a lot of time, some concentration and really good timing and or luck.

You have to salt and boil a large amount of water in a large pot which takes quite some time to reach boil, you have to add the pasta, stir it to make sure it doesn't stick and if you're using a lousy electric stove you may even have to put a lid on to make sure it stays boiling and of course then you have to watch that it doesn't boil all over the stove top, then you have to strain it and after all that with a little bit of forgetfulness you can easily overcook it leaving you with a batch of mushy, sloppy, starchy pasta.

I remember reading back in the day about a method on recipezaar.com (now known as food.com) about a quicker way of cooking pasta and after researching online I finally was able to find an article that gave me the method which I will explain now.

First you will need a small pot, yes I know what you're thinking: But how can I use a small pot, the pasta will burn to the bottom, I won't be able to fit enough water to keep a rolling boil etc etc.

Just hear me out, none of these things will happen and you will end up with the most aldente pasta you have ever eaten in your life.

We want to use a small pot because it heats up quicker, this is where you save the most time, you can save up to 10 minutes if you're using an electric stove and about 6 minutes using a gas stove, the method uses much less energy to get a much better result so even if you're using gas you will save in the long run by using half the gas you'd normally use.

This method also uses about 1/3rd of the water you would normally use, basically just enough to cover the pasta and a little bit more for extra measure, maybe an inch. By using a smaller pot we will also have to use a different method to make sure the pasta doesn't burn or stick and to make sure it cooks aldente.

Note: If you're adding anything that can't be fully covered by the water in the pot like spaghetti which sticks out the top you will have to break the strands in half and add it in this way.

The Method (Gas Stove)

1. Bring water to the boil in a small pot and add salt to taste, you can speed up this process even quicker by using a kettle to boil half the water
2. Add dry pasta to the water, and stir for the first 3 minutes while it comes back to boil
3. Once the pasta has reached a boil again you can stop stirring
4. Immediately put the lid on and turn the gas off
5. Wait for the same amount of time you would have spent boiling the pasta
6. Strain and Serve
7. Be amazed at how you've been doing it wrong your whole life

The Method (Electric Stove)

1. Bring water to the boil in a small pot and add salt to taste,you can speed up this process even quicker by using a kettle to boil half the water
2. Add dry pasta to the water, and stir for the first 3 minutes while it returns back to just before boilin
3. Immediately put the lid on and turn the stove off
4. Wait for the same amount of time you would have spent boiling the pasta
5. Strain and Serve
6. Be amazed at how you've been doing it wrong your whole life

Please let me know if this worked as well for you as it did for me, every stove is a little different and you know your stove better than anyone else so use your own discretion and chef's intuition.

I personally have a really cheap two plate electric stove with built in oven and this technique worked so well for me that the cheapest brand of pasta tasted came out like Barilla, I can't even imagine how good it would have come out if I actually used Barilla!