How do you cook pasta?

Last updated on April 16th, 2025

Fill a pot with a litre of water and a teaspoon of salt per 100g pasta, and bring to the boil. Add the pasta and stir. Keep stirring occasionally to avoid the pasta sticking together. Fresh pasta will cook in 3-5 minutes, thin dried pasta in 6-9 minutes and thick dried pasta in 12-15 minutes. Just before the required cooking time is up, fish a piece out and break it in half. If you see a thin white line or dots, it’s not ready. The pasta is al dente just before it gets soft, when it’s still fairly chewy.