Could spaghetti be prepared in the microwave? – Yes, spaghetti may be prepared in the microwave. Place the pasta in a microwave-safe bowl, fill with water, and microwave on High for the same amount of time recommended on the package plus three minutes, or until al dente. Drain and add your preferred spaghetti sauce.
Can pasta be prepared without boiling?
For a long time, I didn’t believe in no-boil pasta. Oh, I was aware that existed. However, I could not see how pasta could be produced to taste excellent without being boiled in a large pot of salted water. But it might. In fact, you don’t even need water to cook absolutely wonderful, al dente pasta; you can simply boil the pasta in the sauce you intend to combine it with.
The beauty of this approach is its economy: not needing to cook the pasta separately saves a significant amount of time and also—and this is the clincher for me—significantly reduces the number of dishes you’ll need to do after supper. In addition, the pasta releases its starches into the sauce, which work as a natural thickening agent.
The no-boil approach is a great fit for baked pasta dishes, such as this lasagna or this baked penne. However, for a quicker, weeknight-friendly approach to no-boil, consider cooking pasta in its sauce directly on the stovetop. This is the way we used to create our most recent weeknight meal, a creamy no-boil pasta with chunks of sweet butternut squash and crisp Italian sausage.
The sausage is browned in a heavy pot (a Dutch oven is ideal for this) before flour is added to create a roux. Milk, cream, and water are added to the saucepan along with a substantial amount of grated Parmesan. Add uncooked spaghetti along with diced butternut squash (peeled squash cubes are a lifesaver if you’re cooking this on a weeknight), a dab of grated garlic, sage leaves, salt, and nutmeg.
The entire mixture simmers for around twenty minutes, until the squash is tender, the sauce has thickened, and the pasta has miraculously turned al dente—without a single drop of boiling water in sight. 
Nowadays, it appears we have the reverse problem: pasta is frequently undercooked because people are afraid of overcooking it. Pasta should be cooked al dente, or “to the teeth,” which means until just tender. If the center of your pasta is chalky or brittle, it is undercooked.
Let it go longer! * Actually, as long as you don’t mind being labeled a heretic by people who likely have more pressing concerns than how other people prepare their pasta, it should be made anyway you choose. Tortellini can be mushy or chalky, whichever flavor you like. The alternative is to intentionally undercook the pasta for a few minutes before putting it to the sauce to complete cooking.
Cooking pasta in sauce instead of boiling water will lengthen the time required for it to cook thoroughly. It is an effective method for delaying the serving of pasta for a few minutes. If you use this approach, be careful to maintain the sauce diluted with pasta water as the pasta finishes cooking.
Exist alternative methods for cooking pasta?
Before cooking the pasta, toast it in the oven. Toasting pasta in the oven imparts a nutty, robust taste without the need of extra additives. Before boiling dry pasta, just bake it for 10 to 15 minutes at 350 degrees. You will be surprised by how much flavor this little procedure adds! Here is a detailed instruction to toasting spaghetti.
