Spaghetti | |
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Category | Pasta recipes |
Servings | 4 |
Time | 30 minutes |
Difficulty |
Cookbook | Ingredients | Recipes
| Cuisine of Italy | Italian-American cuisine
Ingredients
- About four servings of spaghetti - amount may vary by package, but generally about 8 ounces or 224 grams.
- 1 liter of water per 100 grams of pasta, so about 2.25 liters, or about 10 cups.
- One container of pasta sauce, usually about 2.5 cups or 24 ounces (optional but recommended).
- Salt (optional but recommended).
- Vegetable oil (optional but recommended).
Extra ingredients
The following foods go well with spaghetti and can be served mixed together:
- broccoli
- garlic bread
- meatballs
- pineapple tidbits (boiled, grilled, or fried)
- shredded and/or grated cheese
- tomato and/or alfredo sauce (can choose one or the other, or mix together)
Procedure
- On a stovetop, bring the water to a boil on high heat after adding salt and vegetable oil (see tips below).
- Reduce heat to medium and add the pasta.
- While the spaghetti is cooking, pour desired amount of sauce into pan and set stove to medium.
- Set a timer for 7 minutes. When the timer goes off, fish out a strand of spaghetti and bite into it. What you're going for here is al dente, meaning that the pasta is just soft enough to eat: no longer crunchy in the middle, and not mushy and over-done. A more traditional (but messy) way to see if the spaghetti is done is to throw some strands onto a wall. If they stick to the wall, then the pasta is ready to eat.
- When the sauce begins to bubble, reduce the heat to its lowest setting and cover.
- Once the pasta is ready, carefully drain it through a colander into a sink.
- Serve sauce over pasta in bowls.
Tips
- Add some salt to the water before cooking to enhance flavor and to allow the water to boil more quickly.
- Also add some vegetable oil to the water before cooking to help prevent the spaghetti from sticking together.
- Add herbs or fruit (such as pineapple tidbits) to the water before it boils to keep with the pasta after straining for extra flavor and texture.
- Before cooking the sauce, consider sautéing some finely minced onions, garlic, ground beef (or pork/sausage/veal/etc.), cheese (parmesean/mozzarella/etc.), mushrooms, or anything else that catches your fancy. Then add the sauce.
- In a pinch, you can make plain spaghetti and add ketchup if you do not have any pasta sauce available.
- Cooking is about experimentation, never be afraid to try anything once!
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