Picking and preparing the perfect pasta

Spaghetti has played a major role in the movies, from the scene in 1960 movie, “The Apartment,” in which Jack Lemmon as C.C. Baxter prepares the noodle by straining it through a tennis racket and delivering it with a backhand swing into a serving bowl, to Julia Roberts as Liz Gilbert in 2010’s “Eat Pray Love” as she discovers the sensual pleasure of slurping up strands of marinara-coated pasta.

We’d like you to get as much enjoyment from your next dish -- and so here are our tips on picking the perfect pasta.

1. Choose 100% whole wheat or 100% multigrain pasta, any that is made from only chickpeas, soba (buckwheat), quinoa or brown rice, or use a kitchen gadget to create strands of delicious zucchini, carrot or sweet potato “spaghetti.”

2. Don’t overeat: Stick with one serving. That’s 2 ounces, or half a cup, of pasta. It’s plenty when you top it with a saute of veggies (artichokes, sliced carrots, asparagus, broccoli, spinach), garlic, onions, tomatoes, EVOO, whatever herbs appeal -- basil, thyme, rosemary, cilantro -- and a dash of red pepper flakes.

3. Try a yummy alternative to red meat sauces: lentil Bolognese. The recipe is at https://health.clevelandclinic.org/recipe-lentil-bolognese.

4. Want to know how good for you the serving of pasta is? The Tufts University School of Nutrition Science and Policy says to divide the total grams of carbohydrates in a serving by the grams of dietary fiber. If it’s less than 10, you’re in the good nutrition zone.