Cook Different Kinds of Pasta

Who doesn't love pasta - it comes in lots of shapes, styles, colours and flavours, there's a pasta for every meal. Here's how to cook different types.

Steps

 * 1)  Know your pasta - There are a few different types:
 * 2) * Long noodle types, like spaghetti, linguine, fettucine etc.
 * 3) * Short types, like penne, spirals, butterfly shapes etc.
 * 4) * Stuffed types, like ravioli and tortellini.
 * 5) * Flat types, like Lasagne sheets etc.
 * 6) * Other shapes - like risini which are small rice shaped pieces, or alphabet shaped etc.
 * 7)  Thinner or drier sauces are usually good with long noodle types, chunkier sauces with chunkier pasta which can pick up more sauce. But experimentation is the fun part.
 * 8)  Buy or make your pasta. If you buy dried pasta look at the package to see a recommendation of cooking time. Durum wheat is a good type and it is sometimes suitable for vegetarians if its made of durum wheat flour and water. Egg pasta is a richer pasta type.
 * 9)  Set aside how much pasta you intend to cook. Its usually easiest to look at the raw sample and if its a durum pasta expect it to increase volume by about 1/3rd as it swells slightly. If you overcook the pasta it can absorb enough water to almost double size.
 * 10)  Heat a pan of water with a little salt (about half a teaspoon) to the boil. For long or flat types, its sometimes useful to add a little oil to prevent them from sticking.
 * 11) Carefully lower the pasta into the boiling water.
 * 12)  Stir so they don't stick together. Sticking seems to be more common on long noodle pastas.
 * 13)  Cook for recommended time - this can be between 3-10 minutes. If you have no recommendation on the pack, the way to test is called "cooked to al-dente". Select a piece and when its not too hot, eat it. It should be tender but not soft or hard, just pleasantly firm.
 * 14) *Interesting fact: "Dente" refers to "tooth" which is the connection to the word dentist.
 * 15)  Strain the pasta then follow the next step of your recipe (eg lasagne or pasta bakes) or serve and enjoy with a good sauce, pesto or seasoning such as fresh chopped herbs or grated cheese stirred through.

Tips

 * With long types, its easier to put these in and fan them out along the pot rim so they sink and and won't stick as much.

Warnings

 * Be careful around hot water and use kitchen safety rules.