How Much Water to Cook Pasta in Pressure Cooker?
Cooking pasta on the hob is not difficult or particularly time-consuming but you get fantastic results by replacing your big pot of boiling water with a pressure cooker. In addition, it does cut down slightly on cooking time.
Cooking pasta in a pressure cooker is easy. Furthermore, you always get perfect results. Many people worry about pressure cooking pasta because the timing has to be spot on and because you may not know the quantity of water to add, but once you get these simple rules in place, you are ready to go.
When you cook pasta in a pressure cooker you use a lot of water. A surprisingly large amount that you may think is too much but because most of this turns to steam, you won’t find that your pasta turns out soggy or slimy.
If you are cooking 250 of dried pasta you will need a whopping three liters of water, far more than you would use by cooking the pasta on the hob. In general, the rule of thumb is to cover the pasta with water so you can do this by eye. The rulings for fresh pasta are the same.
Because the pasta absorbs so much water, you do not even need to drain the pasta making it even more convenient.
Cooking time is important. One way to calculate cooking time is as follows; you use the recommended time advised on your packet of dried pasta. Divide by half and then subtract a further minute.
So for example, if it says 12 minutes, such as on a box of pasta shells or bows, you will need to cook it for five minutes. Italians take the cooking time very seriously so it is important to follow the timing directions.
Obviously, after you have cooked pasta a few times, you will be able to judge it correctly for yourself and whether you like pasta al dente or prefer it to be softer to eat. You should always cook pasta in the low-pressure setting.
If you are flavoring your pasta, add some oil and other seasonings to the cold pressure cooker and fry it off for a minute or so. Then pour in the pasta and then the water, ensuring that the water covers the pasta in the pan. Stir and close the lid, setting the pressure cooker to the low-pressure setting.
Cook for the correct amount of time and then slow-release the pressure cooker. Your pasta will still be cooking at this point so beware; it is hot!
You should not need to drain the pasta. Miraculously the pasta will have absorbed all the water so it should be cooked just how you like it and be ready to eat.
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