Chris Malloy

Why do we drink eggnog? The question vexed me for years. Eggnog? The weird yellow Yuletide drink featuring eggs and sometimes booze? The mysterious stuff that retired people in movies swill by the fireside on frozen nights? The creamy concoction that comes in cartons where corn syrup is known to bat second or third in the ingredient lineup? A drink where 50 percent of the letters are g? No thanks.

Pasta seems like an easy thing to cook — boil, drain, sauce, done — but like any other simple food, making boxed pasta can be complex. We hear the same pasta strictures on repeat: Salt the water (it should taste like the sea), don’t break the spaghetti, don’t simply ladle on the sauce. You get the idea. Here’s a roadmap for navigating the pitfalls of pasta. In the end, great pasta is both simple and complex — and getting there is pretty easy.