Al Dente Pasta: 3 Ways to Get It Right — Transcript

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1. 0:03[snorts]
2. 0:03>> If you want really good pasta, getting
3. 0:05that al dente part just right makes a
4. 0:08huge difference. But what does al dente
5. 0:10actually mean? It's Italian for "to the
6. 0:13tooth". Pasta that still has a little
7. 0:15bite. The easiest way to test it is to
8. 0:18taste a piece. It feels soft at first,
9. 0:21but as you bite through, it gives you a
10. 0:23little bite back. You can also cut it
11. 0:25open and look for a tiny white dot or
12. 0:28thin white line in the center. But
13. 0:31that's easy for penne and not so easy
14. 0:33for spaghetti.
15. 0:37And here's the key. Don't fully trust
16. 0:39the package. Start checking your pasta
17. 0:41two to three minutes early. What you're
18. 0:44looking for is al dente.
19. 0:48Soft on the outside, slightly firm
20. 0:50inside, but not raw. On your pasta
21. 0:53package, you'll usually see a cooking
22. 0:56time range, like 8 to 10 minutes. Start
23. 0:59checking the pasta at the lower number,
24. 1:02or even better, start testing a little
25. 1:05earlier. It's usually close to al dente,
26. 1:08which means slightly firm in the center.
27. 1:10That's the texture we are aiming for. If
28. 1:13your package shows only one cooking
29. 1:15time, use that as a guide and start
30. 1:18tasting the pasta a few minutes early.
31. 1:21Now you know what al dente feels like.
32. 1:23So how do you get it just right?
33. 1:29It's not just how long you cook pasta,
34. 1:31it's what you are cooking it for. Let's
35. 1:34look at three methods. First method, if
36. 1:36you want to mix it with ready sauce.
37. 1:39Now, this one is for dishes where the
38. 1:41sauce is already done, or real
39. 1:43fettuccine al fredo, where you finish
40. 1:46everything off the heat. Cook pasta to
41. 1:49al dente, then mix it with the sauce off
42. 1:52the heat. Don't rinse it, and if you
43. 1:54like real fettuccine al fredo with a bit
44. 1:57more bite. Cook it one minute less than
45. 2:00al dente. That's actually how we love it
46. 2:02most.
47. 2:04So, the second method, pasta for the
48. 2:06salad. This is the only time you should
49. 2:09rinse your pasta. Cooked to al dente.
50. 2:14Drain it. Rinse under cold water. Let it
51. 2:17dry slightly. Now, it's perfect for the
52. 2:20salad.
53. 2:24If you're making something like vodka
54. 2:26sauce, or butter pasta, or garlic pasta.
55. 2:31So, you finish cooking your pasta in a
56. 2:33hot sauce over heat on the stove.
57. 2:37Cook your pasta 1 to minutes less than
58. 2:40al dente. Italians sometimes call this
59. 2:43molto al dente, or very al dente.
60. 2:45Basically, the pasta is still a little
61. 2:48too firm to eat, because it's going to
62. 2:50finish cooking in the sauce. Then,
63. 2:52transfer it straight into the sauce, and
64. 2:55let it finish cooking there. This is
65. 2:57where the magic happens, and the pasta
66. 3:00absorbs the sauce, and suddenly it
67. 3:02tastes like a restaurant dish. What's
68. 3:04important, don't rinse it. Pasta
69. 3:07releases starch as it cooks, and that's
70. 3:09what helps the sauce stick. And that's
71. 3:11the most important part. Your pasta
72. 3:14reaches al dente in the sauce. So, it
73. 3:16has the right texture when you actually
74. 3:19serve it. So, yeah, same pasta, three
75. 3:21totally different outcomes.