Skip rinsing spaghetti — except for cold pasta salad

No, not necessary — and usually harmful if you’re serving it hot with sauce.

The starch on the surface of cooked pasta is what helps sauce cling to the noodles. Rinse that off and you get slippery, watery spaghetti where the sauce slides right off. You also cool the pasta down, which messes with your timing.

The one time rinsing is smart: cold pasta dishes. If you’re making pasta salad, a quick rinse stops the cooking cold so the noodles stay firm, and it washes away excess starch that would make the salad gummy. No sauce to stick to anyway.

So unless you’re making a cold salad, leave the pasta alone after draining. Future you eating plate of properly sauced spaghetti will thank you.