Al dente
Al dente is Italian for to the tooth. It describes pasta or vegetables cooked until tender but still firm in the center, with a slight bite when you chew.
Al dente is Italian for to the tooth. It describes pasta cooked until it is tender on the outside but still has a little firmness in the very center, so you feel a slight resistance when you bite it. The term is also used for rice, especially risotto, and sometimes for vegetables. It is the standard way pasta is cooked in Italy.
How to do it
- Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Use about 4 liters (4 quarts) for 450 g (1 lb) of dried pasta.
- Add salt, about 10 g per liter (2 teaspoons per quart), for well-seasoned pasta water.
- Add the pasta and stir for the first minute.
- Start tasting 2 to 3 minutes before the time on the package.
- Drain when it is al dente. Save a cup of the cooking water first.
- If the pasta will finish cooking in a sauce, drain it a minute earlier still.
How to tell it is done
Bite a piece. It should be tender, with a firm but not crunchy center and no raw, chalky taste. Cut a piece in half: you will see a thin, slightly paler dot or line in the middle. If the pasta is soft all the way through and slumps on the fork, it is overcooked. If it snaps, it needs more time.
Why it works
Pasta cooks from the outside in. As starch at the surface absorbs water and softens, the core stays a little firmer. Stopping at that point gives a pleasant chew and keeps the pasta from going soft as it sits in hot sauce. Pasta also keeps absorbing liquid after draining.
Common mistakes
- Trusting the package alone. Times vary with pot size, water volume and altitude. Taste.
- Rinsing hot pasta. It washes off the surface starch that helps sauce cling. Rinse only for cold pasta salads.
- Leaving drained pasta sitting. It keeps softening and sticks together.
- Cooking fresh pasta to the same standard. Fresh egg pasta is soft by nature and cooks in 1 to 4 minutes. It does not have a firm center.
In recipes
"Cook until al dente" means to the point of a slight bite. "Cook 1 minute less than al dente" means it will finish in the sauce. Vegetables cooked the same way are usually called crisp-tender.
Related terms
- Salted pasta waterSalted pasta water seasons pasta from the inside as it cooks, and its starch helps sauce cling. Here is how much salt to add and how to use it.
- BoilBoiling cooks food in water heated to 100°C (212°F) at sea level, where big bubbles break the surface. It is used for pasta, potatoes, eggs and grains.
- Rolling boilA rolling boil is water boiling so hard that large bubbles churn the whole surface and do not stop when you stir. It is what pasta and blanching need.
- Crisp-tenderCrisp-tender vegetables are cooked until hot and bright but still have some bite in the middle. Here are the times for common vegetables and how to test.
- RisottoRisotto is Italian rice cooked by adding hot stock a little at a time while stirring, until creamy but with a bite. See the ratio and the finishing step.