How to Make Perfect Pasta

Pasta — that pantry workhorse, a staple of easy weeknight meals — can take on just about any ingredient thrown at it. But it also comes with its share of pitfalls: clumping, oversalting, over- or undercooking. Worry not. In her latest installment of Cooking 101, Sohla El-Waylly will walk you through the secrets to making perfect pasta.

• Learn how to boil your pasta correctly. Know the right kind of pot to use, how much water to use and how to best salt your pasta water.

• Know how to easily measure 12 ounces of pasta (and why you should use just three-quarters of the box instead of the whole thing).

• Make a foolproof carbonara, with perfectly mixed eggs, a rich, cheesy sauce and crisp-chewy guanciale.

• What to do if you accidentally threw out your pasta water.

• Understand why you generally shouldn’t rinse your pasta — and the few cases when you should.

• And the most valuable lesson of all, how to use up all your pasta odds and ends. (Spoiler: Put them in an easy stovetop mac and cheese.)