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by noted food expert Harold McGee, notes that there are benefits to cooking pasta in a much smaller quantity of water. However, that requires more monitoring by the cook, and I want to keep this as easy for you as possible. So, let’s stay traditional for now.) Add a tablespoon of salt to the pasta water. The pasta will absorb some of it and take on more flavor. There’s no need to add olive oil (or any kind of oil) to pasta water.

When it’s time to add the pasta, toss it into the water and give it a good stir so the pieces don’t settle and stick together. Once the water returns to a full, rolling boil, there’s no need to keep stirring it as long as you have plenty of water in the pot.

When is pasta ready? The best advice for determining this is “read the package.” Virtually all packaged pastas give suggested cooking times. The second-best advice is “don’t believe everything you read.” No two stoves or pots or quantities of cooking water are alike, so use the suggested cooking time as a guide, but start pulling pieces of pasta from the boiling water and tasting them a few minutes before that time is up, until you like the texture. It should be firm, not mushy. Some people call that al dente. You’ll know it when you taste it.

GO FOR A GARNISH

A garnish is more than just a fancy finishing touch for restaurant food. Especially if you’re cooking for friends, adding a little something to the presentation can make a big difference in the overall effect and the flavor. What makes a good garnish? One handy rule of thumb is to use an ingredient that went into the making of the dish. If you use a fresh herb, for example, save a few sprigs to top each finished serving. Most pastas made with oil benefit from the addition of a final drizzle of a flavorful olive oil. Breadcrumbs, toasted in a skillet with a small amount of olive oil, add an appealingly crunchy finish. You can always throw on a perfect leaf of Italian parsley, or chop a few sprigs roughly and scatter them over the pasta.

GO-WITHS ROUNDING OUT A PASTA MEAL

SALAD Think green with red, red with green: a green salad with a red-sauced pasta, a tomato salad with pesto. (The salad chapter, beginning on Chapter 2: Salads, offers many options and ideas.)

Good crusty bread, warmed in the oven

That same bread, toasted, rubbed with garlic, and sprinkled with olive oil, salt, and pepper (congratulations, you just made bruschetta). (By the way, pronounce it “brus-ketta.”)

Breadsticks from a package or a bakery

A plate of Italian sliced meats, like prosciutto, mortadella, and salami, and an assortment of olives

Marinated vegetables from a jar (roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, eggplant relishes, etc.)

An assortment of tasty cheeses with some sliced apples or pears

LOVE YOUR LEFTOVERS

The next time you cook pasta, make extra on purpose. Most pasta dishes reheat well and last a few days in the refrigerator, sealed in an airtight container. Take them to lunch, or reheat them for dinner, warming them in the microwave or on the stovetop (gently, so you don’t actually cook them more). Most pastas also taste great at room temperature—a great way to re-enjoy last night’s pasta as tonight’s side dish or pasta salad.

Those quarter-full boxes and bags that pile up in the cupboard are good for all kinds of things. Throw the pasta into a soup or stew to thicken it and give it more substance. Combine a few types of similar sizes and shapes to make a pasta salad. Break up spaghetti, brown it in a little oil in a skillet, and add it to raw rice before you cook it. Or cook orzo, macaroni, or other small pasta and stir it into tuna salad or cooked vegetables like spinach or broccoli.

But enough from the General Pasta Information Desk. Let’s start using those noodles.

homemade italian tomato sauce

Makes 3 to 4 cups

There are many very good commercially prepared tomato sauces available, and it’s fine to use them (especially if you have found one or two that you really like). But there’s nothing like simmering a batch of your own. It isn’t difficult, and it will