Pasta

Pasta is probably the most common food in Italy, it is eaten pretty much every day. There are hundred different types of pasta, many of them regional, that have to be matched with the right sauce. There is really no right recipe for many sauces, every family has its own tradition. In this book there are some pastas already matched with them and a full chapter for sauces, which can be matched with different types to give different tastes.

Pay attention to buy good pasta, it is not really expensive. Check the cooking time, the longer the better; italian premium pastas usually require 12-18 minutes. Longer cooking times usually allow it to "hold" better overcooking, this means that it won't become glue while you add the sauce, or in the last minute. Especially outside of Italy beware of wrong cooking times, try it and judge yourself, it should be al dente, i.e. a bit crunchy on the inside.