How to cook perfect fettucini [moved from Ontario board]

[princess.melody]

Does anyone know how to cook perfect fettucini without have the noodles all stuck together? I tried to keep stirring the pasta while cooking in boiling water but it still stuck together. Thanks!

[hotoynoodle]

same method for all pasta:

don't buy cheap or american pasta.

use A LOT of salt in the cooking water

use a big enough pot that the noodles can move while they cook

stir as soon as you put them in the pot and then a few more times during

undercook slightly because it will continue to cook from its own residual heat

drain well in a colander -- shake off any excess water with a few good raps

add back to still warm pot which should have your sauce waiting in the bottom. stir to coat.

[princess.melody]

Someone told me before that make a hot boiling water with salt and then once it's bubbling hot. Turn it off and cook the pasta that way. Do you think this method will make better pasta or just not the case at all? Thanks.

[hotoynoodle]

i've read all sorts of non-traditional methods on here. the way i do it works perfectly every time, so i've never bothered to change. it's not rocket science.

[MikeG]

I had misgivings about the whole idea but I tried that once and indeed, thought it was awful. The pasta swelled up and became more or less soft, but it didn't "cook" so it tasted very strange. I guess you could call it "al dente" in a vague sense - it wasn't soft like canned soup noodles - but it didn't have any kind of proper "bite" to it and had a sort of raw taste, like bread or pie dough that hadn't baked long enough. Not good. Pasta needs to cook - keep the water at a full boil for the whole cooking time.