Sauces & Shapes: Pasta the Italian Way (Oretta Zanini De Vita and Maureen B. Fant)

Cooking pasta the Italian way means:

• Keep your eye on the pot, not the clock.
• Respect tradition, but don’t be a slave to it.
• Choose a compatible pasta shape for your sauce or soup, but remember they aren’t matched by computer. (And that angel hair goes with broth, not sauce.)
• Use the best ingredients you can find―and you can find plenty on the Internet.
• Resist the urge to embellish, add, or substitute. But minor variations usually enhance a dish.
• How much salt? Don’t ask, taste!

Serving and eating pasta the Italian way means:

• Use a spoon for soup, not for twirling spaghetti.
• Learn to twirl; never cut.
• Never add too much cheese, and often add none at all.
• Toss the cheese and pasta before adding the sauce.
• Warm the dishes.Serve pasta alone. The salad comes after.
• To be perfectly proper, use a plate, not a bowl.