Some classic and delicious flavor pairs that you'll see in the recipes are sausage and a bitter green like Swiss chard, chicken with mushrooms, and cauliflower or broccoli with briny-salty flavors like green olives and anchovies. It's important that the cooked pasta hold its shape and texture after being tossed with the sauce and left to simmer.
Fresh pasta is too soft and more apt to fall apart.
Add salt to the pasta water, but hold the oil. Unsalted pasta will be bland no matter how much seasoning you add to the finished dish. Although oil will keep the noodles from sticking together, it also keeps the sauce from sticking to the pasta. Cook the pasta just until al dente , because you'll be letting it simmer for a minute or two to soak up the flavors of the pan sauce. Used by permission.