How much do you know about pasta?

True or false: Pasta must be fully drained of all cooking water before serving. Tomato sauce is appropriate for all pasta shapes. Always rinse pasta are cooking to eliminate any starch that can cause it to stick together. If you answered true for any of the above, you are in synch with the majority of average American cooks who took part in a nationwide survey conducted by Roper Starch Worldwide on beliefs regarding the buying and cooking of pasta--and you're wrong! This comes as no surprise to Peter Carolan, the importer of La Molisana Italian Pasta, which commissioned the survey. "Italians have long known that Americans PQ (pasta quotient) is very low."

The findings also do not surprise Julia Della Croce, food writer and author of The Pasta Book. "The old conventional wisdom that you had to rinse pasta to eliminate excess starch no longer applies. High-quality pastas--such as the Italian imports--have little excess starch and a great deal of flavor, so when you rinse the pasta, you're only rinsing out the flavor."

Each American consumes an average of more than 20 pounds of pasta a year, according to the National Pasta Association. Yet, many people do not know the correct way to cook and serve it. Over 90% of survey respondents think that pasta should be fully drained of all cooking water before serving. According to Della Croce, "Many people believe that pasta water is 'dirty,' but it isn't. When pasta stays moist, you don't need as much sauce, so it's best not to drain pasta dry.

"There are basic 'rules of thumb' for matching pasta shapes with sauces: String or ribbon pastas (from angel hair to spaghetti to linguini) work best with oil-based sauces, while elbows, corkscrews, butterflies, and other short, stubby pasta shapes work well with cream or cheese sauces. Larger pasta shapes, such as ziti and penne, are perfect to capture meat and bean sauces, while the largest shapes--giant shells and cannelloni--are designed to be stuffed."

In an effort to help raise Americans' PQ, Della Croce offers the following "golden rules" for making perfect pasta:

* Use the best pasta available. High-quality pasta has a golden...