It can happen to the best chefs. Just when you're ready to treat your friends to a fantastic Italian pasta with tomato and basil sauce, the sauce separates. Have you ever had that happen? Here's how to avoid your sauce falling apart, once and for all.

You may have learned from your grandmother that pasta sauce should be boiled well before serving. Unfortunately, this is not a home truth. After all, if the sauce boils, the water in the sauce separates from the 'solids'. And so it quite literally falls apart. And that is not good for your tomato and basil sauce.

There is no point in cooling the sauce and reheating it the next day. Once separated, it will stay separated. It's time for the Italian home truth: remove the sauce from the heat just before it boils, and serve it piping hot. Bellissimo.