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Soft Fetuccini

R

rt49andellis

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I love fetuccini -- however you spell it.....

I always either end up with hard noodles or nasty soggy ones. I never let the water stop boiling, which I've read is a good secret to cooking it correctly. And I check the noodles all every 30 seconds or so just to try and not get to the soggy point. But... I always end up with 1 or the other. Any suggestions??
 
I have never had a problem with this. i always taste a noodle. When it is still firm to the bite I take it out of the water & drain.
 
Fetuccine is great, I eat it regularly, but I've never made it myself.
 
I always eat a noodle to test my pasta. I take it off the stove before it becomes all the way done because it will finish cooking after you drain the water of the pasta.
 
Thanks shannone - I didn't realize it cooks more once off the heat. I also taste the pasta but it seems like within a minute it will go from "yuck this is hard" to "yuck this is overcooked"
 
yes, drain the noodles right away, too, then serve from the colander.
 
When I make this I usually cook the noodles, drain them, return to pan, put the sauce in and then heat it until the sauce is hot enough. I have a feeling that that's where I'm messing up. Next time I'll get the sauce heated in another pan and then mix the 2 together without additional heating.

In my house, I have to mix the sauce with noodles...same with spaghetti. If I leave it to them to do it themselves, someone always ends up without sauce...and that makes for an unhappy dinner!
 
I am probably making this too difficult for myself, but often I will heat up the sauce separately and then mix the sauce and pasta together in the serving bowl. I like to put my sauce in a microwaveable gravy boat, actually...makes for easy pouring.
 
*laughs* I don't even own a gravy boat. Always seemed to me like it would be just one more dish to wash. We fix our plates at the stove & counter so no point in having a boat on the table. And as I said before, if I do it that way, someone ends up without sauce.
 
I agree about removing them from the heat and draining when they're still a bit chewy, b/c the warm sauce will soften them a bit more.
 
Mama Mangia said:
try cooking in boiling salted water until slightly underdone
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That's what I do too with a tablespoon of oil so that it wont stick together, but if think you overcooked it or underdone, drain it immediately then pour some cold water while it's still in the colander (I mean drain it also with cold water). It will keep the noodles firm.
 
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clara said:
That's what I do too with a tablespoon of oil so that it wont stick together, but if think you overcooked it or underdone, drain it immediately then pour some cold water while it's still in the colander (I mean drain it also with cold water). It will keep the noodles firm.
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I THOUGHT I had read on a box one time that you should drain and then use cold water and drain again. But seems to me that after this process, all you'd have is cold noodles. Yucky.
 
rt49andellis said:
I THOUGHT I had read on a box one time that you should drain and then use cold water and drain again. But seems to me that after this process, all you'd have is cold noodles. Yucky.
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The purpose of draining it with cold water is so that it does not continue cooking , in fact, if you touch the pasta, it's not really cold, it's still warm. You're just going to suspend the cooking process, and since you're gonna put the warm sauce anyway, it's not really cold.
 
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clara said:
The purpose of draining it with cold water is so that it does not continue cooking , in fact, if you touch the pasta, it's not really cold, it's still warm. You're just going to suspend the cooking process, and since you're gonna put the warm sauce anyway, it's not really cold.
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I do the same thing Clara ,when I feel its going to overcook ....and then add it to the sauce ,sauce being still cooking on stove-top...
 
I'd buy pasta with cooking instructions on the box. If the instructions say to cook it for 10 mins, I'd do it for 9 mins then when I mix it with the sauce, the pasta texture will be just nice.
 
When cooking noodles, I always randomly select one noodle to bite into. I'm not "tasting" it so much as I am looking at the cross section of the remaining noodle in my hand after I have bitten into it. The center of the noodle should be clear. When the center is clear, the noodles are done. I drain the boiling water and cool them w/ cold water to stop the cooking process.
 
For Never Fail pasta.....I have NEVER had overdone pasta with this method.

Bring the water to boil first. Place pasta (any pasta except the thin thin type) into the water a little at a time so the water does not stop boiling and stir with pasta fork when all pasta has been added. Set timer for 9 min. Take pot off of burner and drain into colander. Immediately add oil of your choice and toss pasta until you think it has all been coated with the oil. There is no need to rinse with cold water. The oil itself will stop the cooking proces. The pasta is now ready to be added to sauces or to have sauce and seasonings added.
 
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Pasta cooking

vp311 said:
When cooking noodles, I always randomly select one noodle to bite into. I'm not "tasting" it so much as I am looking at the cross section of the remaining noodle in my hand after I have bitten into it. The center of the noodle should be clear. When the center is clear, the noodles are done. I drain the boiling water and cool them w/ cold water to stop the cooking process.
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If you rinse the pasta you are going to rinse off the starch that makes the sauce adhere to the pasta. I never rinse my pasta. Oil will just make the sauce slide right off your pasta. I make all the plates onto the counter and then I put on the sauce so that everyone gets a good portioned amount. Yes pasta is very fussy, but if you taste your pasta and do pasta on a regular basis you will learn the proper amount of time for each type of pasta you serve. Cold salads are just great with aldente pasta and won't go soggy to quickly if cooked until just under done.
 
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