What to cook with pasta

The two things that separate restaurant pasta from home pasta cost nothing: salt the water properly, and finish the pasta in the sauce rather than pouring sauce over drained pasta.

Keep a mug of the cooking water. That starchy water is what turns oil and cheese into a sauce that clings, and it is the ingredient most home cooks pour down the sink.

Worth knowing: Undercook by a minute. It finishes in the pan.