More than 30% of Americans have pasta every week so it’s important that we learn how to properly cook pasta!
Most people prefer pasta cooked al dente which means the pasta is firm, not hard, and offers some “bite” to it. KROWD Darden is used by the Darden associates to access several employment tools and services online through the krowd.darden.com portal.
This is a matter of personal preference so experiment to see what your family likes best.
5 Mistakes People Always Make When Cooking Pasta
Here are the top 5 mistakes people make when cooking pasta.
1. Using A Pot That’s Too Small
If the water remaining in your pot is cloudy or the pasta sticks to the pot, chances are, your pot is too small! Using a pot that’s large enough lets the pasta move freely and avoids a high concentration of starch in the water.
A good rule of thumb to follow is five quarts of water per pound of pasta.
2. Adding Olive Oil To The Water
Adding olive oil to the water before, during or after cooking pasta will coat the pasta with oil and make it not sticky. People often do this when they find that pasta is sticking to the pot.
Adding oil will definitely do the trick to fix this problem, however, the coating of oil also makes the pasta so slick that your pasta sauce won’t stick either!
This is a no-no!
3. Not Adding Salt Or Not Enough Salt To The Water
Instead of adding oil to the pot, you should be adding salt — and plenty of it! Seasoning at every point of the cooking process is an important technique.
Adding salt to the water will reduce the slimy texture of your pasta and give it a good flavor.
Pasta will not taste overly salty like vegetables might for the same amount of pasta.
4. Cooking The Pasta Too Long
Overcooking pasta is probably the most common mistake.
The resulting pasta is limp and pasty. Again, this is a matter of personal preference, so you should experiment with different cooking times. Here is our tips on how to save time in kitchen.
Pasta should be immediately drained in a colander and served immediately once the water is drained. The pasta may cook further while draining in the colander so if you’re tasting it from the cooking pot, remember that the final result may differ slightly.
5. Not Cooking Enough!
The final mistake is not having enough pasta for everyone! Pasta keeps well in the fridge and it would be a crime not to have enough for seconds or thirds!
Italian cuisine includes a diverse range of ingredients and recipes so try new sauces and types of pasta for full enjoyment. Related to the blog post, Krowd Login to Darden home access to Employees’ work management tools, schedules, payments, and other employee details.
For ideas, visit Olive garden and try some of the seasonal items on the menu. Olive Garden is America’s favorite Italian restaurant chain owned by Darden Restaurant.