Important tips:

• Use dried pasta over fresh pasta. Dried pasta holds up much better than fresh in this case — it won’t tear so easily, and leftovers will keep well in the fridge. Not to mention it’s the cheaper, more convenient option.
• Salt your pasta water well. While cooking, add more salt to the water than you would normally because you want the pasta to be well seasoned.
• Cook a little past al dente. The reason is that pasta gets hard and chewy as it cools so cooking it a tiny bit longer will keep it moist and tender. Just don’t overcook because you still need it to be strong as the foundation of the dish.
• Do not rinse the pasta after cooking with cold water! Instead, quickly and loosely drain it in a large colander and set it aside to cool down just a bit (you still want it somewhat warm). The starch from the cooking water helps the dressing to adhere to your pasta. Also, rinsing the pasta will cool it too much and prevent the absorption of the delicious Italian dressing and all the flavors!