i got a bag of 2 feet long pasta from TJs about a year ago. never made it because i didn't have a pot big enough. It's funny to look at though

So many people are perplexed by this stuff for no good reason! Yes, you do just put it in the boiling water like regular pasta and coax it down into the water as it softens. Also, you don't need a particularly large pot, the one you usually use to make spaghetti will work fine. You can get it at Italian markets. Mario's in Glendale, CA and The Italian Bakery in Eagle Rock CA both have it. I even found it at an Italian shop in Colorado Springs, CO, so that means it is probably everywhere. The Colorado stuff was about two feet long once cooked, the L.A. version was about three. It's fun. I'm making it for Valentine's dinner.

I'm lazy, I just break it in half and dump it in like I would normal spaghetti.

I coax mine into the water, unless it's lasagne, in which case I break it to approximately the length of my pan to spare myself cutting steaming hot pasta later.

I (like Tiamat) also break mine in half. Whenever I try to slowly coax it in, it cooks unevenly. Can this be avoided?

Phatpat: I just stir it now and then while it's cooking and it cooks evenly for me.

I read a thing that said that all spaghetti used to be extra long and people would break it in half because it was so long. That's when they decided to just make it shorter to begin with. Who knows if that's true.

You're not supposed to break the regular length stuff in half, tho! Ha Ha.

I recently got some fusilli col buco, which is just this long piece that makes a u-turn and is actually about twice as long as it looks in the bag. I just push it into the water once it is soft enough. You could use a big pot and a lot of water, but this seems wasteful to me, one of those people who only makes enough for myself at a time.

whenever i'm in philly i stock up on long (and short) pasta from claudio's in the italian market - their spaghetti and linguine are doubled over, so they're actually like 3' long!

i, too, have taken to breaking them before boiling. it's fun to eat really really long pasta, but it's a huge mess to sauce it...

The way you cook pasta depends on texture. What are your two-feet long called? Are they just extra long spaghetti?

It's true, spaghetti should never be broken in half, but I do ... Other kinds of pasta (ziti) need breaking, or they're impossible to eat.

Why shouldn't spaghetti be broken in half? I always do if I'm cooking for just me and using a small pot.

Kat: it's just not traditional to break the regular stuff in half. You never see it done in Italian restaurants or anywhere in Italy. Obviously you can do it if you want, tho! I think it has something to do with the traditional way of eating it, twirling it around the fork and/or onto a big spoon. Too hard to twirl if it's short, maybe. When I don't cook, my boyfriend breaks it before cooking and then eats it by cutting it all up with a fork on the plate. I hope my dead Italian grandmothers haven't seen him do this.

I'm all about breaking it in half. It's still long enough and it tastes the same, so why not!?

Why break it in half if you're going out of your way to buy the extra special long stuff? Obviously that's not what's being asked since who cares how anyone cooks the regular stuff.

I'm sure if coaxing is suggested then ya just gotta try it. Here's hoping!