Cooking spaghetti with less water

The kitchen wench is a big (BIG) fan of spaghetti.

I read an article recently, I think it was in grist.org...it talked about cooking spaghetti with less water and also putting the pasta in before the water boils.

In my family we have always cooked spaghetti in a 4-6 quart vat of water (as much as the pot can hold) and my aunt has an even bigger pot that you can cook 2 lbs. of pasta in (it is enormous). Anyways, this grist.org article said you can cook your pasta in less water and it will cook quicker. I've tried this twice, and the first time my pasta came out great. It was spaghetti. Today I did it with angel hair pasta and there were some strands that stuck together. But really, I don't mind. I like a little "chew" to my pasta.

My aunt had given me some sauce to take home last Saturday as a "thank you" for going with her to Costco for her monthly haul, which includes frozen chicken breasts for her doggies. Yes, her doggies are quite spoiled. Anyhoo, this sauce was amazing and I just finished it with today's lunch. She sometimes does a sauce with Italian sausage and little bits of meat. I don't know how she gets everything so tender. And she uses salt pork in her sauce. You can freeze it and cut it in slices and then put it in the food processor and pulse it until it resembles "peas." Then put it back in the freezer and take it out as you need it, maybe use 2 tbsp. per batch of sauce you make. My aunt also uses bay leaves and I'm not sure what else in her sauce. I guess I need to watch her make it one day from start to finish.

Try cooking your pasta less water and let me know how it goes.