A machine for rapid cooking of pasta includes: a measuring device (A) to deliver a predetermined amount of pasta and insert it into a steam cooking chamber (B) equipped with an inlet and an outlet ball valves (40, 28) placed respectively at its upper and lower ends: an expansion chamber (C), where the cooked food leaving the cooking chamber (B) is conveyed: at the base of this chamber there being provided a lid (62) adapted to pour the food into a dish (76): a silencing-steam abating device (D) installed above the expansion chamber, a boiler (E) for the production of pressurized hot water with low evaporation index, which makes it possible to maintain the cooking chamber (C) at a stable temperature and with minimum gradient between the base and top, and a drive mechanism which synchronizes and restrains the movement of the intercepting and distributing organs of the machine.