When it comes to cooking, there's always a new tip or trick to learn that will improve the taste of your dishes or make the recipe a little easier.
And chef Roberta d'Elia is keen to help give people all the tools they need to cook the 'perfect' pasta.
Roberta, who is the head pasta chef at Pasta Evangelists in London, has been sharing her wisdom with The Mirror, explaining how to work out portion sizes and mistakes to avoid making with spaghetti bolognese.
And now the expert has debunked a common mistake many people make when cooking pasta, as they wrongly believe it will help them stop the pasta from sticking to the pan.
Roberta, who is originally from Puglia in southern Italy, urged home cooks not to add any oil to the pasta water.
She claimed this trick was actually a "myth", saying: "Please don't waste olive oil in your pasta water.
"It's probably a myth that the oil prevents pasta from sticking together or to the pan, as it won't do much, it will just float to the top of the water.
"What you need to do to avoid your pasta sticking is leave space for the pasta in the pan, use 100g of pasta and one litre of water, so the pasta can dance and have space to be perfectly cooked."
The expert also warned people not to put their pasta into a pan before the water.
"It's very important that you bring the water to boil first," she said. "I see too many people putting pasta into the pan and then adding water from the kettle. No.
"You need to bring the water to boil, add salt and then you cook the pasta following the timing instructions on the packet."
She adds that if you want to make al dente pasta, then you'll need to reduce the cooking time by two minutes and then you'll be able to enjoy your dinner just as the Italians do.
Do you have a food story to share? We want to hear all about it. Email courtney.pochin@mirror.co.uk
