Skill: Cooking Pasta
Most amateur chefs manage to make a mess out of cooking pasta, they either over cook the pasta so that it resembles baby food or else they manage to undercook it so that it has a texture tougher than rusty nails...the chumps!

Mise-en-Place
Pasta needs lots of hot water to cook. Too little and the pasta clumps together to form a starchy mass that is overcooked in parts and woefully undercooked in others. For a rough guide use the mantra that old school chefs preach to young apprentice chefs:
"10x volume of water to pasta weight"
Dried pasta also tends to be quite bland so to improve the flavour you should season the water with salt. Dissolve enough salt in the water so that you can actually taste its presence. (Not so much that it tastes like manky seawater, but enough to imbue flavour! About 1Tsp salt per litre of water)
A little oil in the water also helps to stop the pasta from lumping together. (About 1 Tblsp per litre of water)

So to cook pasta prepare a large saucepan of boiling, lightly salted and lightly oiled water.

Method and 'al dente':
Once the water is boiling drop the pasta into the saucepan.
During cooking stir the pasta from time to time to prevent it sticking to the base of the saucepan
Cook until the pasta is 'al dente' (pasta cooking times vary depending on the type of pasta and its thickness. Normally 4 - 8 minutes depending on pasta type)

'Al dente' is an important culinary term that indicates pasta is cooked to the right degree. The right degree for pasta is that each individual piece of pasta can be tasted and felt within the mouth. It should not be so overcooked that it resembles baby food, nor should the pasta be brittle and hard. Rather each piece of pasta should have a soft 'crunch' or 'bite' to it. A good way to test pasta (for those unsure of their palate) is to squeeze a cooked piece. If it squashes together between thumb and finger without breaking it is done. However if the pasta actually 'squishes' or splits it is overcooked.
Once the pasta is cooked it must be immediately drained and if it is not to be used straight away it must be 'refreshed' under cold water to prevent overcooking.

'To refresh' is the culinary term for plunging the hot pasta into cold water which stops it from overcooking and also removes any excess remnants of starch

Once the pasta has cooled (and if it isn't to be used straight away) add a little olive oil and toss the two together. The oil will give the pasta a light coating that will prevent it sticking together

Chef Tip: If you find that the pasta, once cooked and cooled, has stuck together a little hot water will help seperate it.

Fresh Egg Pasta
Making pasta is an easy process, all you need is strong flour instead of plain and a little space to roll out the pasta dough. (Strong flour has a higher gluten ratio which is required to make a pasta that doesn't break apart during the boiling process)

Ingredients
450g / 1lb strong flour (also known as '00' grade flour)
4 eggs
1 Tblsp olive oil

Mise-en-Place
Lightly beat the eggs with the oil

Method:
Either in a mixer with a dough hook or by hand:
Mix the flour with the egg mix so that it forms a dough
Knead the dough until it becomes elastic and 'shiny' (about 10-15 minutes)
Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film or a damp tea towel and set aside for 30 minutes 'to rest'

Rolling:
Either with a pasta machine or on a work surface that has been dusted with flour:
Roll the 'rested' pasta into long rectangles
Cut each rectangle into half, then roll once again
Repeat this process until you have 4 - 8 very long and thin rectangles of pasta dough
With a sharp knife (or using pasta cutters) cut the pasta to your preferred shape
Allow the pasta to dry for 30 minutes before using

Chef Tip: Don't have anywhere suitable to hang long strips of pesky pasta? Use a couple of coat hangers.