Where did I go wrong with cooking pasta?

[bingbongbangbung]

It ended up being too dry and salty, with not enough sauce. I've cooked before but it's been years since I did so when I was still studying. Based on what Grok told me, going for less than 4:1 ratio for water:pasta was my biggest mistakes, unless I planned to add more sauce (I didn't). Then of course I used a smaller, more narrow pot, which my dad told me to use a larger and wider pot next time. And of course I suck at measurements, so I ended up adding a bit too much salt (not so much that it overwhelmed the sauce, but enough for it to have a salty flavour). I intentionally overcooked the pasta past el dente because that's a personal preference, although the pot I used if I don't use oil the food will stick and burn at the bottom.

Too little water and sauce

Too much salt

Too narrow of a pot

Too long last didn't cook

Other (Comment)

[Massageman]

Remember to stir the pasta every few minutes as it cooks. I find that I have to cook it almost double of what the packages say. Reserve a bit of the pasta water if you need to thin down your sauce.

[bingbongbangbung]

Yeah the label said 7-9 minutes; i had to cook it for 14-18 minutes for it to be soft enough

[Massageman]

Yup. We had thin tube spaghetti for lunch today. Package said 7 min to al dente. I pulled it after 15 since we were getting hungry. :-)

[Massageman]

Thanks for the MHO.

[On_cloud_wine]

Boil the water first until it’s hot and bubbly and reaches its equilibrium then add the pasta.. on low to medium heat while stirring it occasionally and taste test it before draining

[exitseven]

grt the water to boil before adding in the pasta.

[bingbongbangbung]

Oh me adding the pasta while the water was cold was bad?

[exitseven]

yes.