January 4th is National Spaghetti Day!

Magnifico team celebrates this important day by sharing some tips to cook it as Italians do

Italians do it better!

It is like in life: everything can be easy or difficult; it depends on approaching it. Same with spaghetti. It is one of the most loved and famous dishes in the world, many try to prepare it, but nobody can make it as Italians do. Eating pasta is part of our daily life. Many families eat it once a day, usually for lunch. In Italy, we are not really used to eating it at dinner time. However, even if it is not part of your routine, we have some secrets to share with you. You don't need particular tools or expertise. You need to find just some time to stay in the kitchen and play with us. Nevertheless, remember, quality is everything! Here is our fine selection of the best Italian pasta.

A spectacular wedding? Spaghetti and sauce!

First of all, when we talk about pasta, we are also talking about sauces. Before we start we need to choose the right sauce for the pasta shape, we want to cook. As you may know, we have more than 300 types of pasta: the main difference is between long and short. Every shape needs a different sauce! Spaghetti is no exception, so choose the right sauce.

Five secrets for the best pasta

Italians love to eat pasta, especially spaghetti, al dente, but you can cook a little more and pay attention not to overcook it. Each kind of pasta has a cooking time, usually indicated on the package. It looks like it's just one move: throwing pasta in the boiling water. However, there are some rules to follow. Let's see some of them:

1. Boil the water. It's important to wait until you see the bubbles. Pasta needs to come in contact with water as little as possible. This way, it will keep the shape, and it will not get glued. 

2. Do not use oil. For sure, some of your friends do it, but please keep in mind that Italians don't put oil in the boiling water. Oil doesn't make your spaghetti better; it only leads pasta to stick together. What you need is only a bit of salt before you put the pasta into the water. However, be careful; wait in this case until the water is hot; otherwise, the boiling process will slow down.

3. Keep the shape. If you want to cook spaghetti or any long pasta, it could not be easy to put it all together into the water. It's not so problematic, so please don't break the pasta. What you should do is to keep the pasta in your hands, put it into the boiling water, and then push it gently with a wooden spoon, touching it in the right middle.

4. Do not mix different pasta. You can think all the types of pasta are the same. It's not. Depending on the ingredients and the shapes, the time they need to cook can differ from one to another. There is, for example, a big difference if you are using dried or fresh pasta handmade. So be careful, do not mix spaghetti with other kind of pasta, and always check the time indicated in the package.

5. Try it. We all have different tastes, so Italians like to taste the pasta to see if it is cooked or not. You try it with a fork. If the pasta is still hard, it is still uncooked, so leave it one or two more minutes.