Pasta is not just the typical pasta dish. Pasta can also be sweet (e.g. shortcrust pastry) or used as a base for pies or pizzas. But pasta is generally understood to mean noodles that are boiled in plenty of boiling water, drained and then dressed.

In Italy, pasta is preferably cooked “al dente”, that is, not too soft, and cooking times vary greatly depending on the type of pasta.

Fresh pasta, like gnocchi or tagliolini, usually cooks fairly quickly, while dry pasta takes longer. As for salting the water, not everyone agrees on when salt should be added to the noodles, but it seems that the best time is just before pouring the noodles into the water.