1.   As you get more comfortable with exactly how you want your pasta done, you can start pulling it off the stove earlier and forgo the water.

2.   A minute or so before pasta is done, put sauce over medium-low heat to warm it.

3.   Add oil, salt and pasta and cook until pasta is just done.

4.   Add tender greens like spinach when the pasta is about done.

5.   Check that the pasta is done by fishing out a piece with a spoon and biting into it.

6.   I was not ready to do pastas, so I had to change my style.

7.   If the pasta is done cooking, you want to stop the process.

8.   If the chestnut sauce is too thick, add a little of the pasta water to it when the pasta is nearly done.

9.   The only way to tell when pasta is done is to test.

10.   The short cuts trim enough time that the family may still be eating salad when the pasta is done.