Does anyone else keep the pot covered? I find that I can bring the water to boil faster. Once it is boiling I drop the heat to low and still maintain the heat. There's a bit of an art to keeping it from boiling over, but I'm "sure" I use "way less" energy.
I boil the water with the pot covered, and then cook the pasta with the pot partially covered - maintaining just enough heat to keep the water boiling. It does take more effort, but it uses less energy (water evaporating from the surface cools the remaining water, putting a lid on the water minimizes this evaporation). I'm not sure about "way less" energy, but it usually shaves a few minutes off the cook time.
I wonder how fast you could cook pasta in a pressure-cooker?
This is the key, and the argument that grandmotherly Italian women will make: it's essential to bring the water back to boiling as soon possible after you put the pasta in. Therefore you need a lot of water so the overall temperature doesn't drop (more important for fresh pasta than dry), and you need to cover the pot too so less heat will escape.
Italian grandmothers who make the best pasta would hate this article.
