I learned from the best - while traveling in Italy. Here are the 8 steps to cook perfect pasta.
One pound dried spaghetti noodles, preferably from Italy
A handful of salt
Your choice of sauce (about 2 cups worth)
1. When the water comes to a boil, add a big handful of salt. Never add oil or break the pasta in half.
2. Work the spaghetti into the water until it starts to get soft. Using a pasta spoon, keep lifting and separating.
3. Never walk away from a pot of boiling pasta. It must be babied all the way through.
4. After about 5 minutes, every minute or so, do a pasta check by tasting one noodle.
5. Thirty seconds before you think they're perfect, remove from heat and drain, reserving about a cup of the pasta water.
6. Never rinse the pasta unless you're making a pasta salad.
7. Put drained pasta back into the pot and return it to the stove. Over very low heat, add about a cups worth of sauce and toss. Add pasta water, a little at a time - enough to moisten the noodles, but not too soupy (you may not use it all).
8. Add remaining sauce, but never oversauce. In Italy, the sauce is merely a flavoring for the star of the show - the noodles.