There are so many different possible pasta recipes it might seem impossible to provide general guidelines. But all good pasta recipes have a few things in common.

The most obvious is to start with fresh pasta.

That could be homemade, certainly. Making your own pasta at home is easy and inexpensive. After a little practice, the results are often as good as anything you can get at the store, even in the ‘upscale’ or specialty section. But there are also many good pastas on the market and modern technology has radically improved the way food is kept fresh.

Pick a pasta that suits your needs.

That sounds obvious, and it should be. But if you need a large ribbon of lasagna, don’t just do with a narrower fettuccine. If you need a jumbo shell to house a stuffing, don’t settle for medium conchiglie. Manicotti is perfect for a lot of those stuffed vegetable dishes where a large penne won’t do.

Apart from geometry, you have to consider what kind of pasta will be best from another perspective. All pasta is made from wheat and eggs, but not all wheat types nor eggs are the same.

Durum wheat is the most common. But your recipe may call for a more specialized pasta. You may need a pasta made strictly from organic eggs, for a richer yolk. Sometimes, that requires making your own pasta at home.

Some pastas have a better ability to retain starch that allows good clinging by sauce. That’s a combination of both geometry, ingredients in the pasta and manner of cooking. You need to consider all three factors to get the best effect.

Be careful about cooking time.

In years past it was common to boil the heck out of pasta until it was just a bunch of, shall we say, limp noodles. While you want to avoid leaving the interior crunchy, it’s also true that overcooked pasta is bland and less effective.

Cooking to an ‘al dente’ level, in which the pasta is firm, yet neither undercooked nor soft, is generally preferred. That brings out the pasta taste, at the same time leaving enough physical sturdiness to do the job of holding meats. It also leaves enough starch intact to let the sauce cling well.

How long is ‘long enough’ varies enormously from recipe to recipe. Thick spaghetti may take as long as six to eight minutes, while vermicelli will often be overdone at just four. Just be sure to keep enough water in the pot to allow for ample room for the pasta to move around. You want even heating and no sticking together. Adding oil to prevent the latter may not fit with your recipe and can cause starches to be less effective.

Timing is everything.

Apart from total cooking time, the moment at which the dish is finalized and served affects the final result. Alla Carbonara requires careful timing to get the eggs cooked just right by the still-hot pasta. Some cold pasta dishes can wilt if they sit in the refrigerator too long. Plan out ahead what needs to be done when before you crack an egg or turn on the oven.

Great pasta dishes, like any fine art, are not created by accident. But with a little research and forethought you can be the equal of many professional chef.

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