Pasta cooking appliance (1) comprising: a self-supporting cabinet (2); an open-top cooking basin (3) which is recessed on the top of the cabinet (2) and is dimensioned to contain several liters of water; heating device (4) which is adapted to selectively heat up the water contained in the cooking basin (3) so as to bring the same water to boil; an overflow drain line (15) which is structured to drain out of the cooking basin (3) the water exceeding a given maximum level (l) inside the cooking basin (3); a sensor device (20) capable of determining when a boil-over phenomenon is taking place in the cooking basin (3); and an electronic control unit (21) which communicates with said sensor device (20) and is adapted to control the heating device (4) for selectively reducing the heat-output of the same heating device (4) when a boil-over phenomenon is taking place in the cooking basin (3).