Marco Rossi, Italian cook and wine merchant, gives you his tips for cooking pasta according to the rules of the art, as in Italy.
The ancestral art of pasta, only true Italians can pass it on! The Italian chef Marco Rossi, originally from Naples, restaurateur for more than 20 years in France, has made known and appreciated to his French customers “durum wheat pasta, symbol of the tradition of Campania”.
This Italian chef, for whom pasta is essential to his cuisine and his way of life, has included Conghiglioni and Paccheri, typical pasta from Campania, his native region, in his menus. But if only one pasta dish needs to be mentioned, he answers without hesitation “the Ragù Napoletano”, which reminds him of his childhood.
“I would wake up Saturday morning smelling like this and wouldn’t even say ‘hello’. I would walk into the kitchen and grab a piece of warm bread to dip in the sauce.” Marco Rossi now owns a wine and cheese cellar Bocca Rossain Nice. For him, “pasta represents the pride of being Italian” so read carefully his list of mistakes to avoid when cooking your “pasta” worthy of the “Mamma”. Here are the points to remember:
- Error #1 : we start with the best known but also, alas, the one still committed by many budding cooks. “Using too small a pot and/or too little water to cook pasta”. How do I know the right amount? It’s very simple: you need at least one liter of water for 100 grams of pasta.
- Mistake #2 : do not wait for boiling by plunging your pasta into the pan when the water is barely hot. This is particularly to be avoided according to our chef Marco Rossi. “Big mistake: it is imperative to wait until the water is fully boiling before plunging your pasta into it”, advises the chef.
- Mistake #3 : do not stir while the pasta is cooking. “It is imperative to stir the pasta if you want to prevent the pasta from sticking to the pan”, underlines our pasta ace.
- Mistake #4 : add the salt at the last moment. The preparation of pasta may be bland to the point of compensating with more sauce or more cheese. What advice, boss? “The golden rule is to use one liter of water for 10 grams of coarse salt and 100 grams of pasta“Thanks for the tip!
- Mistake #5 : do not let the pasta sit in the colander. You will thus find them glued together. “If you have planned a sauce, keep a little cooking water to mix it with: it will adhere better to the pasta and this will give it a little texture thanks to the starch contained in the pasta water.”
The chef’s little extra tip for successful “al dente” cooking like the Italians
“Personally, I always advise cooking pasta 2 minutes less than what is indicated on the package”, advises Marco Rossi. And to know when exactly to drain the pasta, the Italian chef advises to “cut a pasta in the process of cooking” and proceed as follows: “as long as you see the point of starch, continue cooking. As soon as it disappears, it’s good! Let’s drain!” Simple but unknown…