Essential Pasta Dishes to Add to Your Repertoire

Everyone loves pasta. It’s quick, easy and economical. It can also be as elegant as you care to make it, and is universally beloved in every country I can think of. Here are a few tips to keep in mind next time you’re cooking pasta:

• Cook pasta in a large volume of rapidly boiling salted water. It should taste like seawater! I use five quarts to boil a pound of dried pasta.

• When your pasta hits boiling water, the starches on the exterior of the pasta swell. When those starches burst, the pasta becomes sticky. The starches will be absorbed into the water and essentially wash away. But during those first few minutes, that sticky glue is produced, so remember to stir! If you don’t, the pasta pieces can stick together, and you can end up with a big mess on your hands.

• You don’t need oil in the water. It can actually prevent your pasta from cooking properly, alter the flavor and is a bit of a wives’ tale.

Spaghetti with Classic Tomato Sauce	Orecchiette with Brown Butter, Broccoli, Pine Nuts & Basil	Garganelli with Prosciutto & Peas
Herbed Shrimp Capellini with Spicy Bread Crumbs	Pasta with Braised Pork, Red Wine & Pancetta	Vermicelli with Red Clam Sauce
Pasta Carbonara	Garganelli with Rosemary Sugo, Meatballs, & Fonduta	Spaghettini with Arugula, Pancetta, Herbs & Eggs
Farfalle a la Vodka	Ragout of Clams with Spinach, Sausage and Orzo	Charred Broccoli Rabe with Chitarra and Lemony Bread Crumbs

• Aromatic Soy Sauce Noodles
• Soba Noodles with Shrimp Tempura
• Hand-Pulled Noodles with Braised Beef