I believe it's the olive oil too Silver.
Tastes just as good rinsed as not, to me anyway.
1. Use a large pot with lots of water, way bigger than you think you need. Rule of thumb is about 1 to 1 1/2 quarts water per 1/4 lb of pasta. You want the pasta to cook with lots of room and lots of water. This one’s a biggy!
2. Bring water to a full boil then add a splash of oil and a few shakes of salt. Oil is debatable with some, but I find it does add something to the pasta. Use 1 to 2 tablespoons of salt per pound of pasta (Kosher salt is great). Once everything’s boiling hard, add your pasta and make sure it’s all covered with water. This one’s an important step too, if you add the pasta before the water is at a full rolling boil–you’re not going to get great pasta.
3. When you first add your pasta to the boiling water, stir well to prevent it from sticking to the bottom. Stir again after about 2 or 3 minutes. Do not cover with a lid, keep the pasta boiling in an open pot.
4. Check the instructions on the pasta package for cooking time. Start checking the pasta at the minimum suggested time: take a piece of pasta out and bite into it. If it’s cooked just right, you’ll know it by biting into it–it will be slightly firm but tender (al dente), no crunchy or hard center. Once it’s cooked, remove the pasta from heat immediately. If it isn’t, check every minute or so until it’s ready. Seconds do make a difference and overcooked pasta is why it turns out soggy, mushy and tasteless.
5. Once the pasta is done cooking, remove from heat and immediately drain in a colander. Shake the colander to get rid of excess water, no need to rinse although some people prefer too in order to remove some of the saltiness.
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"I wish I could lag during sex." - Reapist
Jezza, so you know, you've been moved to the
number 1 spot of my list of people
with horrible taste on the board. -Wolfgar-
