by having the pasta al dente whatever warm sauce it is placed in is further absorbed into the outer wall of the pasta — or so I was taught as a Mess Sgt.
My favorite dinner on my birthday in my youth was Spaghetti and Meatballs which my mother made very well. In recent years, trying to put back on weight, I have become a real pasta fan. I can make a lot of different pasta dishes although I don’t normally make fresh pasta itself.
I recommend that people look around for artichoke bottoms, which if canned tender are wonderful sliced up in pasta dishes.
I like to also make some pretty plain pastas. Try browning a bunch of diced up garlic in butter and olive oil, then adding that with a little lemon juice to cooked pasta. Then cover with fresh chopped basil and high quality parmesan cheese fairly dry and finely shredded
The only thing I can’t make like Jenni’s Restaurant in Columbus Park is Linguini Carbonara. I am going to have to take a whole weekend sometime and just make repeated batches until I get it just right — but I don’t have the patience right now..
A restaurant in CA used to have Linguine Caruso — wine and chicken livers. I loved that. It does sound weird, but it was delicious.