This little how to formula for firm, cookes pasta works with your linguines, your spaghettis...well, your long pastas. It's how my grandma taught me to make a perfect pot of pasta.
Any kind of 'string' pasta (Spaghetti, Linguine, etc.)
A pot of boiling water
Salt
Oil
Step1
Always start with a boiling pot of water. Don't put your pasta in before that, or you'll end up with a starchy or soggy mess.
Step2
Salt your water after it has begun boling. No one's ever explained this to me, but it really does mean the difference between the pasta being bland or not.
Step3
Be careful not to use too much oil. Oil in the water after it has boiled keeps the pasta from sticking. Use barely a capful more than that will make your pasta soggy.
Step4
Stir frequently. This will also save you from ending up with a "spaghetti raft", which is what happened to my first pot of pasta when I was twelve or thirteen!
Step5
Go for the lowest cooking time. If the box calls for 8-12 minutes cooking time on your box, start taste testing at seven and a half minutes. At around the eight and a half or nine minute mark, perform the 'wall test': if you gently toss your pasta against the wall and it sticks, your pasta is done!
Enthusiast 
Comments
favefive said
on 12/13/2007 Awesome. I toss it against the kitchen cabinets to test ;)