Cooking Related Questions

When you cook pasta, you should always use a lot of water - typically 1L of water for 100 g of pasta.
In the typical method of cooking process, you should heat 1.5 - 2 liters of water until it boils.
First add salt to the water (7g to 1L of water) and then insert the pasta and boil in according to the instructions on the package.

Pasta provides steady energy.  Cooking pasta perfectly ‘al dente’ (still slightly firm) allows you to reap the full benefits of pasta’s already strong ability to increase satiety, delaying hunger pangs and providing fuel for working muscles long after meals. Due to the special protein structure of traditional pasta dough, pasta has a low to medium glycemic index (GI) value depending on the cut, which means that the body digests it more slowly than most other carbohydrates. That’s true for pasta that’s made from either soft or hard wheat. To keep the GI value low, cook your pasta to ‘al dente.’

Preparing Barilla Tortellini is incredibly simple and foolproof. Just add the Tortellini to boiling water and let it cook for 10 to 11 minutes. To finish, you can add sauce or simply drizzle some extra virgin olive oil and grate some fresh Parmesan on top to create a delicious, authentic Italian dish. Another delicious option is to cook the Tortellini in broth, such as chicken broth.

To make a Tortellini salad, cook the Tortellini, drain (do not rinse in water) toss with a little olive oil to prevent sticking and let cool uncovered at room temperature for 10 minutes. Refrigerate for 30 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients for the salad. Add these ingredients to the Tortellini, mix well and serve. We do not recommend making a Tortellini salad in advance.

Adding oil to the pasta water does not stop pasta from sticking together. Using Barilla's high-quality pasta and using the correct proportion of water to pasta ratio will prevent the pasta from sticking together.

Salt is always used in preparing pasta in Italy. A touch of salt in the water brings out the flavor of the pasta. Sea salt is recommend since it is a natural product that enhances the flavor without creating salty-tasting pasta. If you are on a sodium-restricted diet, the salt may be omitted.