If your typical pasta presentation is a bowl of pasta with the sauce poured over the top, think again. Any Italian will tell you the key to a perfect pasta dish is a sauce-to-pasta ratio that allows the pasta itself to shine, with an even coating of sauce on every bite. Prepare your sauce first and keep it warm while the pasta cooks, then gently toss your cooked pasta in the sauce to evenly coat. A general rule of thumb is 1½ cups of sauce for every pound of cooked pasta.