I love to cook all kinds of Italian food, and I love to cook food in season. I braise, roast, and prepare long-cooking mellow soups. But if I were stranded on an island and asked what I would want for the rest of my life, pasta would be the food. Versatile, delicious, simple to make, and satisfying to eat, pasta has become a universally favorite food. And its nuances and combinations are infinite.

Preparing Pasta
Cook pasta in an abundant amount of water: One pound of pasta to six quarts of water in an eight-quart stockpot is a good rule. Salt is a matter of taste, but I like to use it in my cooking water to enhance the flavor of the pasta (much of the salt drains out with the water). Make sure the water is at a full rolling boil before you stir in the pasta, and return it to a boil as soon as possible. Try this trick: After adding the pasta to the water, put the lid on the pot, but prop it open slightly with a wooden spoon so the water doesn't boil over.

I'm not sure how the practice of adding oil to the pasta cooking water came about, but I discourage it. Oil reduces the starchiness of the pasta's surface, so sauce won't adhere as well. The exception is the large shapes of pasta, such as lasagna noodles, because they tend to stick together and tear.

Al dente
To make great pasta, cook it al dente, or "to the tooth." Pasta cooked al dente results in a sensation of slight resistance when chewed, and it is an important part of the overall enjoyment of pasta (and rice, too).

Al dente is easy to recognize. Properly cooked, pasta will be tender and not raw tasting, but it will have a firm texture and even a little "napi" at the center. It's easy to tell pasta that has been cooked al dente by looking at it. With long pasta shapes, like spaghetti and linguine, there will be a dot of white at the center; in round pasta shapes, like ziti or penne, there will be a faint but clear ring of white that runs around the center of the pasta. If you are going to simmer cooked pasta together with a sauce, as I do most of the time, then the pasta should be slightly less cooked than al dente. It will finish cooking in the sauce.

Tossing with Sauce
Add sauce to pasta immediately after cooking, while it is still hot. And use a judicious hand so the sauce doesn't overwhelm the pasta. In most pasta dishes, the idea is to make just enough sauce to lightly coat the noodles. Especially for tubular or creviced pasta, you want to be sure to drain it well, or the excess water will keep the sauce from adhering to the pasta and may also dilute the flavor of the sauce. I usually drain the pasta over a bowl to reserve some cooking water, which can be used to loosen up a too-thick sauce. Warmed bowls will keep the pasta hot when ready to serve.

Perfect pasta pairings—linguine and clam sauce, cavatelli and broccoli, ziti and meat sauce—have been a part of the Italian culinary repertoire for centuries. The possible combinations of pasta and sauce are limitless and may even seem a little intimidating. But follow a good Italian pasta recipe, and your dish should be on track.

In Italy, cheese is used with pasta very selectively (it's not offered with seafood pastas, for example) and with careful attention to timing. Toss cheese with the pasta at the last minute, after removing it from the heat. Otherwise the heat will cause the proteins of the cheese to separate from the fat, and you might end up with a serving spoon filled with stringy cheese and oily pasta. To add the final touch, grate or shave a little extra cheese over the plated pasta. The steam from the pasta will lift and intensify the aroma of the cheese.

Now that you know a few of the basics about pasta, try some of my favorite pasta recipes in the above "In This Feature" box.

Lidia Bastianich has popularized traditional Italian cooking in America. She is the owner of five Italian restaurants: Felidia, Becco, and Esca in New York City; Lidia's Kansas City; and Lidia's Pittsburgh. She also hosts two Italian cooking shows on public television and has written three Italian cookbooks, La Cucina di Lidia (Lidia's Italian Kitchen), Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen, and the newly released Lidia's Family Table.