Doing up Dried. Dried linguine cooks in about nine minutes for al dente pasta, and in about 10 for more tender linguine. Begin timing it after you've added the dried pasta to a large stockpot of boiling water, stirred it well to incorporate it into the water, and let the water come back to a boil.inessing the Fresh. Fresh pasta cooks in as little as two minutes after the water comes back to a boil. When you're ready to cook fresh linguine, remove the package from the refrigerator and boil a large stockpot of water.