It's a good idea to save your pasta water as it can give your sauce a velvety texture, and chef Giada De Laurentiis has a tip for saving the most while draining your pasta.

She uses a spider, or strainer, to remove the pasta from the water. This technique lets the pasta water remain in the pan rather than being tipped away.

De Laurentiis advises never to rinse the pasta once cooked since that removes starches. Instead, add the noodles straight to the sauce and toss to combine.

Then, add a little of the pasta water. The starch in the cloudy pasta water helps improve the consistency of the sauce and makes the sauce cling to the pasta.

As for how much water to use, it will depend on the pasta and the sauce in question. Around two cups of water for each pound of pasta is a standard guideline.

De Laurentiis's method saves the full volume of water you've used to cook the pasta, so there's plenty to go around and you can adjust the quantities as needed.