Cooking pasta is pretty simple, but there can be some hiccups if a few details are missed. Nobody likes it when noodles get stuck to the pot — it’s tough to clean, and you get less pasta. In an exclusive interview with Mashed, Lorenzo Boni, executive chef at Barilla, explained his best practices for keeping pasta from sticking to the pot or itself.

To prevent the pasta from sticking to the pot, Boni suggests using 1 gallon of water per package and getting a good quality pasta made of durum wheat to reduce the amount of starch released in the water. Keeping the heat up high is also crucial for helping the pasta move around more as the water boils, thereby stopping it from sticking.

The chef suggests preparing the sauce beforehand so that it can be combined with the pasta as soon as the pasta is cooked. He also suggests stirring right after you add dry noodles to the pot, and then every two to three minutes from there. However, if you have the correct ratio of water and it's hard boiling, you won't have to stir as often.