A staple in almost every home's pantry is spaghetti or some form of pasta that makes its way to the dinner table regularly.

Many of us take the time to focus on building the flavour and complexity of the accompanying sauce for our pasta of choice, but the pasta itself needs attention, as well.

Much space could be dedicated to achieving palate-pleasing goals in pasta sauces, but let us not forget the substance of these dishes: the pasta noodle. Here we will unravel some myths and procedures in one of the simplest tasks in the kitchen - boiling water and cooking pasta.

The dry pasta noodle undergoes transformations during the cooking process. Most obviously, cooked pasta is larger in volume and more flexible than dry, raw pasta, because of the absorption of water during the boiling.

The cooking process of any food, however simple it seems, needs to be analyzed, because this is our chance of infusing flavour into the ingredients being cooked.

Everyone has heard about salting water when boiling pasta, but few realize why. Some believe salt helps prevent the pasta from sticking, or keeps the water from boiling over - but it is to season the pasta and to increase flavour.

Pasta on its own is bland, and adding bland pasta to a sauce you have perfected doesn't help the finished dish. If the pasta is allowed to absorb salt water while boiling, instead of just water, your pasta dish will be seasoned from the inside out.

Don't add oil to your pasta water. It will affect your finished dish negatively. Oiled pasta water will help keep your pasta from sticking together, but the film of oil that will be left on the drained noodles will also prevent your sauce from sticking to them.

You want the starchiness of the pasta to hold onto the sauce as much as possible, so that the dish can be enjoyed to the fullest.

Drained cooked pasta should not be oiled for the same reason.

A better way to help prevent your pasta noodles from sticking together while cooking is to stir the noodles constantly for the first two minutes of cooking time. By then, the water will have returned to its full-boil action, and the agitation of the bubbling water will keep the pasta moving and prevent it from sticking.

Do not rinse pasta after it's drained. Rinsing will cool it, and will also wash away some of that starchiness that we want to help secure the sauce to the noodles.

Homemade "spaghetti" is a common dish in many households, and whether you use spaghetti, linguine, or other types of noodles, I hope these few simple recommendations help to make your meal more enjoyable and flavourful.