Al dente (
dente meaning tooth or teeth) means "
to the tooth". The bite characteristic of perfectly cooked pasta. This is the traditionally accepted
doneness of
pasta when prepared for Italian dishes although some
people prefer it a bit softer, although some would characterize it indeed as "just right" (as I do myself) that is not what the words al dente
mean.
In my experience, dry pasta takes about 11 minutes to cook to al dente when dropped in already boiling water. For fresh pasta, it would probably take a shorter time.
Professor Pi says to make
fresh pasta al dente, you would probably have to dry it a little bit after forming the pasta. Otherwise it remains
soft. Alternatively, using more eggs makes a firmer
pasta.