Don't put the shrimp etc in the sauce in the first place and cook it separately, that way you don't have to take it out. Then just top your pasta with it and if say you are cooking meatballs and want a little sauce on them mix a little sauce in with your meatballs and then put them on top. If you want that mixed in with the pasta look then do the same thing I said above and mix the pasta in your individual serving bowls or plates if you are using one after you have dressed your pasta.
Your just not going to get an even distribution with random variables, all you can do is pick and count if you want everything evens.
Al dente cooking is a transitional state that lasts for a very short amount of time (one minute longer in boiling water makes pasta too soft, one minute shorter and it's still crunchy). For this reason, authentic Italian pasta packages state a precise cooking time, which is very reliable to make a good al dente pasta.
A cooking time interval (e.g. "7 to 10 minutes") is usually given to accommodate to other countries taste, who may prefer a softer pasta, and therefore its presence could be a good indicator of an Italian look-alike pasta brand. In this case the lower figure indicates the al dente cooking.
Lacking this information, a good cooking time can be figured by cross section size, length and shape of pasta: obviously, thicker and squat formats require more time. Complex shapes, such as farfalle, can be trickier because a thick core could reach the al dente cooking while the thinner edges are already too soft.
As a rule of thumb, cooking times for common pasta formats are:
- Long and very thin (spaghettini, bavette): 6 min
- Long and thin (spaghetti, linguine, bucatini): 8 min
- Short and thick (maccheroni, rigatoni, fusilli): 12 min
- Small and thick (farfalle) : 8 min
- Small and thin (pasta usually boiled straight into broth): 6 min
These cooking times apply only for dry durum-wheat pasta; other types (such as fresh egg pasta) usually have a shorter cooking time.
After straining the boiling water, pasta continues to cook by its own heat; for this reason it has to be eaten as soon as possible. Only for some Italian regional recipes (typically pasta boiled straight into a thick vegetable juice, e.g. pasta with beans, pasta with potatoes) you may want to let it rest for up to 5 minutes after straining to let the juices coagulate.
Also, for recipes where pasta has to undergo a second cooking after boiling (e.g. stir frying in a pan with vegetables, shrimps, mushrooms, etc.) a better result is obtained by boiling pasta just one minute less than the cooking time given on the package.
Best Answer
The most common preparation is tomato sauce and parmesan cheese.
Of course, some Americans will tell you that the only truly American way to eat spaghetti is to top it with chili, then shredded cheddar cheese, then chopped onions, then red kidney beans. It's hard to fully express the majesty of this dish, and should only be enjoyed on special occasions, like the Super Bowl.
In Canada (which I consider to be basically "American"), it's also fairly common to add or replace the tomato sauce with pesto sauce. Soft goat cheese is another common additive. Perhaps these sound "Italian" but I'd consider an Italian pasta to be something more like a bolognese, carbonara, alfredo, or even the trusty old butter/olive oil and parmesan cheese. You'll almost never see tomato sauce combined with pesto sauce in an authentic Italian restaurant (or in Italy), but it's common in American home cooking.