National Pasta Day on October 17 is a celebration of the most versatile staple in the pantry. Whether you eat it once a week or once a day, a handful of simple habits will make every plate you cook noticeably better, and none of them cost a thing.
Match the shape to the sauce
Italians pair specific shapes with specific sauces for good reason. Long, smooth strands like spaghetti and linguine suit oil- and seafood-based sauces that coat rather than cling. Tubes and twists like rigatoni, penne, and fusilli catch chunky, meaty ragus in their ridges and hollows. Tiny shapes belong in soup. Getting this pairing right does more for a dish than upgrading the brand.
Season the water
Your pasta water should taste like a well-seasoned broth, roughly a tablespoon of salt per quart. This is the only moment you can season the pasta from the inside out, and it is the reason restaurant pasta tastes seasoned all the way through. Unsalted pasta stays bland at its core no matter how good the sauce on top is.
Never pour all the water away
Before you drain, scoop out a mug of the cloudy cooking water. That dissolved starch is a quiet workhorse: splashed into your sauce while you toss, it helps oil and fat emulsify into a glossy coating that clings to every strand. This one habit, more than any other, is what separates a home cook’s pasta from a trattoria’s.
Salt the water, save the water, and finish the pasta in the pan.
Finish it in the sauce
Stop saucing pasta on the plate. Drain it a minute shy of done and move it into the pan with the sauce and a splash of that starchy water, then toss over gentle heat for a minute or two. The pasta drinks in flavor, the sauce tightens and clings, and everything becomes one dish rather than noodles wearing a topping.
Learn a new shape
There are hundreds of pasta shapes, and each was designed to do a job. Pick up one you have never cooked and learn its purpose, orecchiette cupping bits of sausage and greens, bucatini’s hollow center soaking up a peppery amatriciana, trofie twisting through pesto. It is one of the cheapest, most delicious ways to grow as a cook, and today is the perfect excuse.
How to celebrate
- 1Match the shape to the sauce
The oldest rule of Italian cooking is that shape and sauce belong together. Long strands like spaghetti suit smooth, oily sauces; tubes and twists like rigatoni and fusilli grab chunky, meaty ones; and tiny shapes go in soup. Choosing well makes a bigger difference than the brand.
- 2Salt the water like the sea
Pasta water should taste like a well-seasoned broth, roughly a tablespoon of salt per quart. This is the only chance to season the pasta itself, and it is why restaurant pasta tastes seasoned all the way through while unsalted pasta tastes flat no matter the sauce.
- 3Always save some pasta water
Before you drain, dip out a mug of the starchy cooking water. Splashed into your sauce as you toss, it emulsifies oil and fat into a glossy coating that clings to every piece. It is the single most useful habit that separates home pasta from restaurant pasta.
- 4Finish the pasta in the sauce
Do not sauce pasta on the plate. Drain it a minute early and let it finish cooking in the pan with the sauce and a little pasta water, tossing so it absorbs flavor and everything binds. Ninety seconds of tossing transforms the dish.
- 5Explore a new shape
There are hundreds of pasta shapes, each designed for a purpose. Pick up one you have never cooked, orecchiette for greens and sausage, bucatini for a rich amatriciana, trofie for pesto, and learn what it does. It is a cheap, delicious way to expand your cooking.