Every pasta recipe tells you how to make it and then at the end just says "serve". . . There are actually a few tricks to finishing and plating pasta that I've learned from my family and thought I'd share.

1. A frying pan is your best friend for making sauce.  (Today I'm using vegetable bolognese leftover from this recipe)  If you are making for two, I make the entire sauce in the pan, but if it's a lot, go ahead and use a big pot and transfer some to a pan for finishing.  Ok, so you've got your sauce in a large frying pan on low heat (sauce and pasta are already cooked, we're just tossing them together to make them happy):

2. When your pasta is done cooking, strain it and place it right in your frying pan:

3. Toss the pasta and sauce together:

By doing this, you are giving each piece a nice coating of sauce and letting it get absorbed a little bit.

Ok, next step, plating.

4. Using tongs, grab a big chunk of pasta and place it right in the middle of your plate.  Don't worry if you don't get any of the sauce, we'll get to that in a minute:

5.  With the tongs perpendicular to the plate, slowly spin.

6.  You're starting to look like a pro already!  When you get a nice circle-ish shape on the plate.  Use the tongs to grab some of that sauce and place it right on top:

7.  Now top with some freshly chopped basil:

Now you are ready to serve!  All your guest will be super impressed : )

xoxo