According to the author's mom, the great Marcella Hazan, colander should be sitting in the sink so the pasta can be drained the very instant it's cooked.

It doesn't get any better than a bowl of pasta, right? But too often cooks ruin a great dish by following one (or more) of these myths. Avoid them, and you'll be licking your plate clean in no time.Myth: Breaking long pasta into shorter pieces makes it easier to eat.If spaghetti were better short, it would have been made that way! Plus, broken strands are hard to eat since they’re not long enough to twirl onto a fork.

Myth: Add olive oil to the cooking water to keep the pasta from sticking.

Pasta shouldn’t stick when properly cooked. If it’s cooked with olive oil, it will actually coat the noodles and prevent sauce from sticking.

Myth: Throw the pasta against the wall—if it sticks, it’s done.
The only way to know if it’s done is to taste it! It should be al dente, or firm to the bite. The more pasta cooks, the gummier it gets, so if it sticks to the wall it’s probably overdone.

Myth: Rinse pasta after cooking and draining.
This will make the pasta cold and rinse away the starch that helps bind the sauce with the pasta.

Myth: It’s all about the sauce.
Italians will tell you it’s pasta with sauce—not sauce with pasta! Too much sauce buries the flavor of the pasta and overwhelms it.

By Giuliano Hazan | Photography by James Wojick

Fettucine with Longanisa Clam Sauce

By Chef Nino Logarta

3 Bears Restaurant

Ingredients:

500 g uncooked fettucine noodles

1 c sliced Vigan longanisa

1/2 c olive oil

1 c diced onion

2 tbsp minced garlic

8 g pack secret sangkap

Pepper to taste

1 large bell pepper diced

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 c beer

1 can diced tomatoes

500 g littleneck clams, scrubbed clean and picked over

3 tbsp chopped fresh basil leaves

Parmesan cheese

Set a large one-gallon pot of salted water with a pasta insert over high heat. Bring to a boil and add 2 tbsp salts.

Add the uncooked pasta to the water and cook for 7 minutes. Drain the pasta in a colander and reserve.

Begin making the sauce while the pasta is cooking. Set a large 14-inch saute pan over medium high heat.

Add the olive oil to the pan and longanisa, add the onions and saute until light caramelized and translucent, about 3 minutes.

Add the garlic and crushed red pepper flakes and saute until fragrant, about 30 second.

Add the beer, stir to combine well and cook until the beer has been reduced to half.

Add the diced tomatoes and clams and season with Secret Sangkap and pepper then cover and simmer until the clams open.

Toss in the noodles. Top with chopped basil and parmesan cheese before serving.