by Carlo Rossini

Created on: December 05, 2008   Last Updated: June 16, 2011

A friend of mine just asked me if I had ever cooked pasta in a microwave. And then went on to ask, quite surprisingly, if I had any tips for getting good results. My reply was quite simple, in fact just one word, a rather angry NO!

The reason for my abrupt answer, was that I was enraged. Pasta is the ultimate fast food, easy to prepare, easy to cook, and almost every pasta I have encountered during my career as a chef, has been cooked in less than 8 minutes. So why would anyone want to cook it in a microwave. In fact I would say, It could probably take longer in a microwave than I could cook it in a pan. I say probably as I will never try! Don't get me wrong, microwaves are good at reheating, warming milk, even melting chocolate. But cooking, Nah! No chance!

The secret to cooking good pasta, is plenty of salted water, kept at a nice rolling boil, and a good depth to the pan to allow the pasta to move around when cooking. An that basically is all you need. No oil, no microwaves, no rice cookers, no magical tricks, just basic cooking skills.

Secondly, the thought of water being heated in a microwave scares me! Water when heated in a microwave can become superheated, meaning that in contact with say a metal spoon, or just the air, it can explode violently! And if exposed skin is anywhere near, you can imagine the horrific consequences. So I would always say, take extreme care when heating any liquids (and especially water) in a microwave. And yes, I realize most people would use a rice cooker or similar safe device, but you can never count for all individuals, and someone may think it a good idea to "boil" the water for pasta in a microwave.

So my advice, stick to the traditional! Thousands of Italians can't be wrong!

Just to prove my point of how simple pasta can be! With just four ingredients you can be enjoying a delicious Spaghetti with Agli e Olio (garlic and oil) in under (and yes UNDER!) ten minutes!

You will need Spaghetti, Oil, Garlic, Dried Chilli.

First throw a pan of water onto a burner, make sure its deep! Next dice two garlic cloves, heat some good olive oil in a frying pan. Add the garlic, add some thinly sliced dried chilli (or chilli flakes). Gently fry for around 3 minutes, take it off the heat.

By now the water should be boiling, throw in the pasta, cook for 6 minutes, drain it, then throw spaghetti into frying pan. Toss and stir the spaghetti around in the garlic, chilli oil mixture. I promise this will become a favorite!

Enjoy!

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