Is there anything better? Pasta is cheap, versatile, easy to make, filling and delicious. While gnocchi and risotto have their place, pasta is the go-to primo piatto for Italians and non-Italians alike. It’s also one of the easiest things to get wrong – or at least, to get inauthentic. Overcooked noodles with too-sweet sauces, overpowering flavors, underwhelming combinations… to name just a few problems.

It’s easy to get snobbish about Italian food, and that’s not what this is about. But if you want to cook your pasta in a way that would make even the most purist nonna’s mouth water, here are a few simple tips to get your dishes as authentic as possible.