by Ron James

Created on: October 06, 2010

The secret to great spaghetti is in the preparation. So, while I will share a couple of good recipe suggestions, let me focus first on the preparation.

You can't make any pasta without lots of water. Generous amounts of water allow the pasta to move around while it is cooking. This room to move around is the secret to non-sticky, non-clumpy pasta. No oil in the water or any of those other old wive's tales. Just lots and lots of water. Four or five quarts per pound.

Don't forget the salt. Add it just as the water comes to a  boil. About two tablespoons of salt (I prefer Kosher salt) per pound of pasta. I know it sounds like a stroke waiting to happen, but it's not. The salt is necessary to season and flavor the pasta as it cooks. No amount of salt added later will have the same effect. And most of the salt used in cooking rinses away when you drain the pasta. It does not end up in your arteries. (Check with your doctor, however, if you are on a salt restricted diet.)

DON'T BREAK THE SPAGHETTI! Dante didn't mention it, but there is a special ring in hell for people who break spaghetti in half. Ask any Italian. I mean, the pasta police are probably not going to break down your door if you do it, but why take the chance?

Stir the pasta occasionally, especially after you first put it in and  the starches are being released. This, too, will help prevent sticking.

After you drain your spaghetti, don't rinse it or oil it. You need the starches that cling to unrinsed pasta to help the sauce blend with and adhere to the pasta. That's also why you don't oil it. (By the way, a secret ingredient in many Italian pasta dishes is cooking water. Reserve a cupful when you drain your pasta and add it in to help develop a sauce or if the sauce needs thinning.)

One of the biggest mistakes Americans make in serving pasta is to dump the drained pasta onto a plate and then ladle sauce over the top of it. The proper way (i.e. the Italian way) to serve spaghetti is to cook it to within a minute or two of optimum doneness, then drain it and either return it to the pot it was cooked in and add in the sauce or to add the drained pasta into the pan in which the sauce is being prepared. Either way, you then finish cooking the spaghetti in the sauce for a minute or two, stirring and tossing to thoroughly coat the pasta with the sauce.

Okay, preparation is covered, now for a couple of recipe suggestions.

SPAGHETTI CON BURRO E PARMIGIANO (Spaghetti with Butter and Parmesan Cheese)

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