THE PERFECT PASTA

Pasta is a passion for Italians, Jews and non-Jews alike. It can be fresh and made by hand for special occasions, or dried ('secca') and packaged. In Italy, laws regulate how it's made and exclusively durum wheat flour can be used. But how do we make it 'al dente'? And what does it mean exactly? Literally, "al dente" means "to the bite". That's how we define pasta that's not too soft and not too hard, just perfect. Overcooked pasta is flavorless and mushy, and is less digestible.  At the same time, you don't want to leave it so raw that it will be hard or stick to the teeth. For the nutrition buffs among you, overcooked pasta has a high glycemic index, while when it's made "al dente", Italian-style, that index is quite low.
Here is a HOW-TO:

* use about 2/3 cups per person
* fill a large and tall steel pot with very abundant water (at least 1 cup of water for every cup of pasta, or more) and salt. I add salt with my hand, but if you are not used to this you can try half a teaspoon per person of coarse salt.
* when the water is aggressively boiling, add the pasta and stir immediately. Never add the pasta before this point or it won't cook properly! Stir occasionally to prevent it from sticking.
* packets of pasta usually say how many minutes it must be cooked for. However, this varies slightly depending on a variety of factors including whether the water is hard or soft, and how long the pasta has been sitting in its package. So, I start checking the pasta at least one minute BEFORE that time.With a fork, pull out one piece of pasta and taste it. (keep a dipping bowl of cold water next to the pot to avoid burning your tongue).
* taste every 20 second maximum. It just takes 30 seconds for the pasta to go from undercooked to overcooked!
* When you taste it and it's just PERFECT, quickly remove the pot from the stove, and drain the pasta with the sieve which you had previously placed in your sink.
* the right cooking time can be anything from 2 minutes less than the box says, up to 3 minutes more.
* add sauce and grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese when appropriate, and enjoy!!!!