You're Not Tasting Along the Way
Taste. Your. Food. At. Every. Stage. Of. Cooking. Make sure you get your seasoning right, your textures proper, and your heat spot on. The only way you will be able to tell that you're going to like the way something tastes is by tasting it.
You're Not Saving Your Pasta Water
Pasta water, to some, is murky, scary uncertainty juice that does not feel connected to food whatsoever. To chefs, however, pasta water is miraculous and delicious. It can act as a binder for all sauces, not just ones that go on pasta. The starch in pasta water is the reason this happens. The protein molecules in the starch bind with the fat molecules in most sauces, and it makes the sauces penetrate the pasta better than it would have if you didn't incorporate the pasta water.