Bring the salted water to a boil and stand your spaghetti in the middle of the pot. Wrap both hands around the middle of the spaghetti, twisting each hand in the opposite direction. Then, release.
The spaghetti will land in a sunflower formation divided equally around the pot. This will help the pasta keep from sticking and start cooking each stand of spaghetti evenly. After a minute or so, give it a stir and all the stands will be submerged in the water separately. This is especially helpful if you have a pot that is wide, but not quite as tall as you might like.
No oil will be necessary. Boiling pasta with oil makes the finished pasta slippery, more difficult for the sauce to adhere. More pasta tips to share?
I don't have any pasta tips to share...I'm not a pasta maven...but I'm going to try this, hell, even if I suck at it I'll still be making a pretty sunflower design!!
Great tip Chris! Love reading your posts!
view stevieleigh's profile
Yes! I agree wholeheartedly with this tip. I hate oily pasta.
My tip: Salt the water heavily. I've been told the water should be "salty, like the sea". It makes an enormous difference. Don't do it when making mac'n'cheese from a box, though. (Not that any of us do that, right?)
view mfm's profile
I'm a big fan of undercooking the pasta just a bit and finishing it in the sauce (with a splash or two of the starchy pasta water, if necessary).
view jenblossom's profile
I'll vouch for jenblossom's method. Everything mixes together really nicely this way, and the sauce seems to adhere better to the pasta.
view nora's profile
I saw something on Martha Stewart's old Sunday morning show and have used it every since. When cooking spaghetti, linguine, angel hair, or the like -- throw a small piece at the refrigerator. If it sticks, its done. It really works.
view robyn's profile
Somewhere, as I'm now thinking about pasta, in my head is a memory of someone in my life long ago, snapping the pasta in the center, and tossing it in the pot, presumably to make it easier to stir in its uncooked state and to prevent sticking.
I'm not advocating this...it's a bad memory! Thanks for the memory!
;-)
view susan's profile