Once you move away from home and start university you will have to start cooking for yourself. Ready-meals and takeaways are unhealthy and too expensive in the long run, so you should at least try to learn to make a few of the cooking basics! And once you have mastered them – the sky´s the limit!
Besides learning some cooking basics, check out my other post on 10 Things Every Student Should Do Before Starting University.
This cooking basics post is all about making pasta. An absolute student staple that is among some of the most important student store cupboard essentials! I think a lot of students think they know how to cook pasta, but the sticky, mushy piles of what no longer resembles pasta I have seen on some old flatmates´ plates tell me otherwise… So here is my guide on how to cook pasta properly!
More Student Cooking Basics
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How To Cook Pasta – Everything You Need To Know!
How Much Pasta Should I Make?
We all know portion control is kind of important – and just throwing half a bag of pasta in the pot certainly doesn´t help… I don´t know about you, but I´d be tempted to eat it all even though I know it´s too much. So how much pasta should you be making?
The recommended serving size you will find on a packet of pasta will be about 75g. This may not sound or look like much, but once cooked it´s actually a very decent portion. I tend to go by how hungry I am and depending on what I am having with my pasta. If I´m making the pasta as a side to have with some meat and veg, I might just make 50g. Or if I am really hungry and just mixing it with some pesto, I might make 100g. So, as a rough guideline, I´d say make about 50-100g of pasta depending on how hungry you are and what meal you are having.
Pasta For Meal Prep?
Meal prep is a great thing to do as a student! But personally, I wouldn´t make large batches of pasta for meal prep (unless it´s for a pasta salad or if I make a lasagne).
Reheating it in the microwave just makes pasta go really mushy, plus, it takes no time at all to just make some fresh pasta on the day! So whilst I would highly recommend making large amounts of pasta sauce for meal prep and reheating that, I´d always boil some pasta to have with it on the day. Plus, the pasta water is great for stretching out/flavouring your sauce, check out the tip below to find out what I mean!
Other Meal Prep Recipes
- Student-friendly easy Lasagne
- Colourful Rice and Vegetable Stir-Fry
- Béchamel Sauce – Student Cooking Basic to Make Pasta Sauces
- Vegan Mixed Bean Chilli
- Chicken, Sweet Potato and Spinach Curry
Always add Pasta to Boiling Water
The amount of people I have seen put a pot of cold water with the pasta already in it onto the hob is ridiculous! What are they thinking? That´s just an absolute no-no when it comes to making pasta, and I think it´s one of the main reasons people overcook their pasta… Because by the time the water comes to the boil, no one actually knows how long the pasta has been in there!
So, always make sure you add the pasta to a pot of boiling water! A quick tip to speed things up: Whilst the kettle is boiling, already add about 1-2 cm of water to the pot and set over a high heat on the hob. As there is so little water, it will start to boil really quickly, even before the kettle is done! Then, add the boiling water from the kettle to the boiling water in the pan – and the whole thing will be bubbling away ready for you to add the pasta in no time!
Add Salt To The Cooking Water!
This is such an important step! You´ll never achieve that amazing pasta flavour if you don´t add salt into the cooking water – no matter how much you season it afterwards! It´s just not the same…
I was once told that pasta cooking water should have the same salt-level as sea water does, so definitely don´t be mean on the salt. A good little pile in the palm of your hand is perfect! Don’t worry, the salt isn´t completely absorbed by the pasta – you won´t be consuming massive, unhealthy amounts of salt! But it does add great flavour to the pasta, as well as the water. Check out my tip below on why you should reserve some of the cooking water and how to use it!
How Long Should You Cook The Pasta For?
If you ask me, I agree very much with the Italians in that pasta should be al dente! There is nothing worse than soft, mushy pasta that has no bite to it at all!
I usually find sticking to the lower end of the time specified on the packet instructions (i.e. 9 minutes if it says 9-11 minutes) is usually a pretty good start! Of course, it is up to you and you can of course cook it for longer if that´s what you like (just don´t make complete mush, please!!!). It´s always good to just try a piece of pasta before you drain it to check if it is cooked, as you can always give it another minute if it´s still too al dente…
Most pasta needs 10-12 minutes to cook and a general rule of thumb is that smaller/thinner pasta shapes take slightly less time, whilst wholemeal pasta may take a bit longer to cook.
A proper Italian would never add sauce on top of pasta, the pasta must always be added to the sauce and tossed in it until fully coated! If you are going to add the pasta to a sauce, then I would recommend stopping the cooking of the pasta a minute earlier than usual, as it will cook a bit more in the sauce.
There are of course always exceptions to every rule, even when cooking pasta. If you are making a pasta bake, for example, you might only boil the pasta until it´s half-cooked (it will finish cooking in the oven). And for a lasagne (my recipes at least) you don´t cook the pasta at all before cooking!
Always Cook Pasta Uncovered!
Unlike rice, which you leave to simmer with the lid on, you do not cover pasta when cooking! If you quickly want to pop on the lid after adding the pasta to the water, just to quickly bring it back up to the boil, that´s fine. But always keep your eye on it! Because if you cover pasta whilst it´s cooking, the water will bubble up and the whole thing will boil over! So, to avoid a big mess and having to clean up spilled pasta water, just leave the lid off!
Top Tip: Reserve the Pasta Cooking Water
This is my top tip! The pasta cooking water develops a great flavour from the salt you add to the water (see above) and the starch released from the pasta when cooking. The starchiness of the water also helps, counterintuitively perhaps, to thicken a pasta sauce. I love adding some of the cooking water to my tomato sauce or cheese sauce – it just adds an amazing flavour! It´s also great when adding pesto sauce to your pasta. Add some pasta water alongside the pesto, to make it a lot easier to toss and fully coat the pasta in the sauce!
to keep warm.
To use the pasta water, either spoon some of the pasta cooking water into your sauce whilst the pasta is still cooking, or reserve the cooking water when draining the pasta. I do that by placing a mug or small jug into a colander. Then I carefully pour out as much of the water from the pot into the mug as I can, trying to keep most of the pasta in the pot. Then I remove the mug and strain the pasta through the colander. Place the lid of the pot (now you may use it, haha) on top of the pasta in the colander to keep it warm whilst you finish your sauce.
White or Wholemeal Pasta?
Like with all carbohydrates, the wholemeal version contains more fibre and therefore keeps you fuller for longer.
The wholemeal version is obviously the slightly healthier choice, but it is completely up to you which one you chose! Personally, I think they taste (almost) the same, so I tend to opt for the wholemeal version.
If you want to tentatively approach that healthy pasta dish – why not first try a 50:50 mix? You can either buy pasta that is made from 50% wholegrains, or just cook a mix of wholemeal and white pasta yourself. Remember, cooking times may vary though (check the packet instructions), so you might need to cook the wholemeal version for 2 minutes before adding the white.
Some Pasta Recipes For You To Try
Wow, that turned out to be a pretty extensive list – but I now feel like I have gotten everything I know about cooking pasta off of my chest! I hope you find these tips helpful!
Probably you are now dying to get into the kitchen and start cooking – so here are some of my student-friendly pasta recipes to get you started! Enjoy!
- Spaghetti in a Tomato Meatball Sauce
- Penne Tricolore
- Spaghetti Pesto with Feta Cheese
- Pasta and Cheese Sauce with Crispy Bacon
- Tagliatelle in a Creamy Tomato and Mozzarella Sauce
- Easy Student Lasagne
- Creamy Hummus Linguine
- Spaghetti with Sundried Tomato Pesto
- Pasta Verde
- Roasted Mediterranean Vegetable Lasagne
