Kitchen

[CamilleP]

I'm far from a spring chicken, and I've been cooking pasta for several decades now, but I am just flumoxxed with one shape that seems designed by a high-level Demon to make otherwise good cooks want to tear their hair out!

How do I cook pasta shells so that they don't nest together five deep into little lumps that no sauce can penetrate?  I don't get this with spaghetti, fettucini, macaroni, rotini, penne or lasagne noodles, either wheat-based (from years ago) or legume-based, but I simply can't seem to cook small shells without a culinary disaster happening.

Any suggestions, folks?

[Scooby Doo]

I add a little olive oil to the boiling water and stir several times until they are done.

[PinkyPetunia]

@CamilleP        If that shape gives you so much trouble, don't use it.  Substitute another shape.  There are so many.

I have some pasta types I avoid.  Angel hair and farfalle to be specific.  I just don't care for them. 

[Bookplate]

Stir, stir, stir, especially during the first 5 minutes.  And yes, a little olive oil in the water also helps.

[faeriemoon]

Make sure you are using enough water.  Most people don't boil their pasta correctly. You should use four to six quarts of water per pound of pasta (less if you are planning to use the pasta water as a thickening agent.)  I would NOT add oil to the water.

[loriqvc]

@CamilleP - Shells are my absolute favorite instead of elbows for mac and cheese, and I've really never had problems with cooking them. Perhaps it is the brand you're using? I'd recommend Barilla if you haven't tried it; they use ingredients that give their pasta more substance, which may help if the problem is pasta that is too thin or gummy/sticky to begin with. And even though the shells are small, be sure you're using a large pot to give them room to move as they cook. Stirring more often could possibly help as well. Generously salting the water is also useful because it not only flavors the pasta as it cooks but it also prevents the starches from becoming too strong (i.e., gelatinous).

I would never add oil to the water since it will make the pasta slick as you pour it into a colander and thus prevent the sauce from coating it—and since the oil stays on top of the water, I don't think it would do anything to help the pasta as it cooks.

[Jaspersmom]

Most pasta will stick together unless you stir several times during the boiling process.  The suggestion to add olive oil is a good one.  Pasta has starch and that can act like glue.  You have to break up the shells from the moment you add them to the pot.  I tend not to use shells, but I've had the same problem with ziti, penne and everything else. Also make sure you have enough water in the pot.  

[Boehm Collector]

@CamilleP   Do not use olive oil when cookig pasta.    Use plenty of water and stir frequently.

 From myrecipes dot com

Should I Add Olive Oil to My Pasta Water?

Although cooking pasta might be like second nature for most home cooks, there are actually quite a few ways to mess it up. Some of which are misnomers held as conventional wisdom in many households. And that begs the question of whether or not it's necessary to oil your pasta water.

By Sara Tane and Sara Tane Updated March 24, 2017

Credit: Getty Images; Credit: TSchon

For a lot of us, learning how to cook pasta is one of the first skills an amateur cook might add to their arsenal. I mean, it’s easy enough right? You salt some water, boil it, and then cook your noodles. What’s so tricky about that? As it turns out, there are plenty of little tricks and turns along the way that can determine the failure or success of your pasta-cooking experience. Whether it’s related to salting the pasta water or rinsing the pasta after it cooks, it’s important to make sure that you’re avoiding common, and often seemingly harmless, mistakes. Why? Because you deserve the best bowl of spaghetti possible.

Watch: How to Make Creamy Spring Pasta

Which brings us to our next dilemma of what is right and wrong in the world of cooking pasta, and that is whether you should or should not add olive oil to your pasta water. While it might seem like an innocent splash of oil couldn’t do any harm, your pasta is way better off without it. Generally, people will drizzle a bit of olive oil into their pasta water in order to prevent the noodles from sticking together... but that's not the only thing it's going to keep from sticking. What happens is that a layer of oil will form at the top of your pasta water, so when you drain your noodles from the water, the layer of oil will then coat all of your noodles as they’re drained. Admittedly, this is isn't a huge issue if you plan to dress your noodles in nothing but olive oil anyway, but for something like a Bolognese or simple marinara, its kind of an issue. This coating of oil will only cause your pasta to become slick and slippery—in turn, making it very difficult for any sauce to cling to the pasta. And what good does that do you? None!

Really, all you need to do is give your pasta noodles a stir every so often as they cook to prevent major clumping. If the noodles seem a little sticky one you drain them, that's A-OK (ideal, actually); they'll loosen up from one another once they have some sauce to cling to. So the moral of the story—save your olive oil for something else (like building a rich and robust sauce), because it surely does not belong in your pasta water.

[branny]

a famous chef said not to use oil to pasta water. Sauce will not adhere. Just stir and use enough water. I'm not a shell user so I can't say about shells. 

[Rockycoast]

Lots of water for the pasta to swim in. Stir frequently and Never put oil in the water.