A machine to fast cook an individual serving of pasta and similar foods in the short time span of a minute or less, comprises a single cooking chamber (2) in which to complete both of the two phase cooking cycle. The first phase exposes the pasta in the cooking chamber to very high temperature water, 300 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, under very high pressure, sufficiently high to substantially prevent vaporization thereof, for a period of about thirty seconds. Such pressurized high temperature water is provided by a boiler (16) connected by a conduit (18) to the cooking chamber, and after the first phase of the cooking cycle it is discharged from the cooking chamber into an expansion tank (26). The second phase of cooking cycle exposes the pasta in the cooking chamber to hot water below the boiling point but at a cooking temperature of about 190 degrees Fahrenheit for about twenty seconds. Such hot water is provided by a separate hot water tank (34) which is connected by a separate conduit (36) to the cooking chamber (2), and after the second phase of the cooking cycle it is drained from the cooking chamber. The cooking chamber is then opened to deposit the individual serving of cooked pasta on to a serving plate.