1. SEASON IT - Salt, course grind black pepper, basil, oregano, parsley, nutritional yeast, and red pepper flakes are my holy grail of flavors for pastas
2. COOK AL DENTE - Always boil your pastas al dente, Italian for
3. SALT YOUR PASTA WATER & DON'T DRAIN IT. Salty like the sea. The proper way to boil your pasta noodles is to boil it in salt water, remove your noodles directly from the water (not drain), and mix it up with the other ingredients when ready. Why? You need the starch water to absorb as much flavor as possible. Reserve about 1/4 cup of pasta water (or more) and drizzle on your pasta dish for a finishing touch
4. GARLIC & REALLY GOOD OLIVE OIL. Open up the flavors by crushing a few cloves of garlic and heating up in low heat with about 1/3 to 1/2 a cup of extra virgin olive oil. Why? The flavor of garlic is best absorbed when heated up. You don't exactly want to burn garlic either (it will end up bitter) and olive oil has a very low smoking point, so keep it low and just heat it up until it is fragrant
Are you team sauceless pasta or do you like it saucy