For the record, the starch in the pasta water acts as an emulsifier- things like carbonara rely on it to keep the sauce from breaking; and it’ll help red sauces to adhere more to the pasta.
As a side note… cook the pasta little under and transfer it to the sauce to finish. (I believe that’s what the other commenter was suggesting,)
Usually I just do a terrible job draining and that’s enough- it doesn’t take a lot;
I separate the sauce and pasta for a different reason: I cook a large batch and will always have leftovers, so keeping them separated prevents them from spoiling faster (even when refrigerated). An already-mixed spaghetti also gets dry in the fridge compared to heating them separately later on.
Interesting, I do prefer my pasta separated. However, the pasta water is an intriguing ingredient.
For the record, the starch in the pasta water acts as an emulsifier- things like carbonara rely on it to keep the sauce from breaking; and it’ll help red sauces to adhere more to the pasta.
As a side note… cook the pasta little under and transfer it to the sauce to finish. (I believe that’s what the other commenter was suggesting,)
Usually I just do a terrible job draining and that’s enough- it doesn’t take a lot;
Using the pasta water for the sauce makes it less runny. YMMV on whether that’s a good thing.
Fun fact certain pasta dishes use the pasta water as an ingredient. Cacio e pepe for example!
I separate the sauce and pasta for a different reason: I cook a large batch and will always have leftovers, so keeping them separated prevents them from spoiling faster (even when refrigerated). An already-mixed spaghetti also gets dry in the fridge compared to heating them separately later on.
You can freeze it. Source: italian doing pasta every second day and mealprepping often.