How Long Does Fresh Pasta Take To Cook?

Fresh pasta is one of life's greatest pleasures with a chewy texture, satisfying flavor, and ability to take on any sauce or filling and make it sing. Once prepared, it takes only 1 to 5 minutes for most varieties as opposed to the 8 to 10 minutes required for boxed pasta . Plain cooks faster than stuffed, and even then, the shape matters. Thicker, squattier styles take slightly longer than flat or thin shapes. 

The rule of thumb is to boil fine pasta like angel hair (aka capellini) for just about a minute, linguine or penne for 2 to 3, cavatelli for 3 to 5, and stuffed pasta like ravioli or tortellini for 4 to 5 minutes. Gnocchi and ravioli will rise to the surface of the pot when they are done. Always taste your pasta to confirm your desired doneness. In this case, a watched pot is preferred so that you can pull your pasta the second it looks done. Err on the side of caution and taste at no longer than the 3-minute mark to see just how done your fresh pasta is — and at 1 minute for thin varieties, like spaghetti and Capellini. 

There are a few key techniques for achieving peak deliciousness. Begin with heavily salted water so that the salt makes it all the way into the center of the pasta for proper seasoning. Bring the water to a rolling boil to ensure a high and even temperature throughout the water. Once you add your pasta, bring the water back to a boil and reduce the heat so that the water remains at a soft boil to preserve pasta pouches and shapes. Kitchen tweezers are great tools to delicately remove a single strand of pasta and taste it without burning yourself. If you are serving pasta with sauce, drain and transfer it into the sauce for the last 30 seconds of cooking to soak up the flavor. 

When it comes to making pasta dough from scratch , use quality flour like semolina for eggless pasta or low-protein 00 flour with fresh eggs. Choose the right shape of pasta for your sauce , and make extra to freeze for another night. For quicker pasta cutting,  there's a gadget every home cook needs : Try an Italian tool called a guitar. There are plenty of stuffed pastas to know and try , so don't be afraid to experiment. And it's always wise to master several go-to pasta dishes such as Roman-style spaghetti alla carbonara ,  fettuccini bolognese  (or a  vegetarian eggplant version of bolognese ), and linguine con vongole  to make last-minute dinners a breeze.