The first thing is, like with any meal you are preparing are the quality of the ingredients. When you go shopping for pasta make sure you are buying a good brand that uses only quality ingredients. For instance, if buying the dried type you should only buy brands that use pure semolina flour. Anything else will just taste like counterfeit food.

A high quality pasta has a rough surface. The texture will determine if it will be able to hold onto the sauce that it is served with. Smooth pasta is an instant indicator that you are dealing with an cheaper brand and you want to avoid this at all costs. Much of the flavor of this kind of meal is in the sauce, and if yours falls all over the plate instead of sticking to the food, you will be sorely disappointed. You want to make sure the pasta you use is dense and heavy for its size.

You really want to make sure to avoid the mass produced versions. If you don’t avoid them, you will set yourself and your guests up for an unhappy meal. Like any kind of fresh ingredient you want to make sure you check the expiration date because unlike dried pasta, the fresh does not have a long shelf life.

Just take a minute to look at the noodles that you get. If it looks cheap then it is. If it looks to have a good quality color and texture and is heavy for its size, then that is the pasta that will give you the best tasting Italian food.

When its time to do the cooking, make sure you don’t overcook by boiling for too long a time. Mushy pasta is never good. For good tasting dishes you want the noodles to be tender, yet firm to the teeth. Make sure you use a large pot with a lot of water in it. Bring the water to a boil and then liberally add salt. If you don’t salt the water then the pasta will taste bland compared to the sauce it is served with.

After you put the salt into the pot, heat the water to a rolling boil and add the noodles. With plenty of water in the pot, you have the best chance of making sure your pasta does not stick to the sides of your pot. This helps it cook evenly and all the way through.

To be really authentic, take a cup of the water you used for boiling and add that to your sauce for a real honest flavor. Don’t forget to not rinse the cooked noodles, otherwise you will be stripping away the flavor of your Italian food.

Even more so than other cuisines, preparing is fun when done right and it is so important to remember that good food is meant to be good fun.

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