Which Sauce Fits Your Pasta Best?
Pasta is probably one of most famous italian foods, it is the ingredient that culminates the essence of Italian cooking. In Italy, pasta is an essential part of every meal and does not constitute a meal on its own.
Il primo, as the pasta course is known, is eaten between the antipasto (appetizer) and il secondo (the main course). Sometimes small pasta shapes are served in soup.
There are two basic types of pasta
- dried (pasta secca)
- fresh pasta (pasta fresca).
The combination of pasta and a tasty sauce is almost a science in itself. Every Italian cook usually has a personal selection of the best pasta dishes and tips to cook it. However, there are a few simple rules which people generally follow.
Filled pasta, like ravioli, pansoti, cappelletti, tortelllini have so much flavour of their own that they only need to be served with a little sage butter or a very light tomato sauce. In the North Italy they are often accompanied by a cream sauce.
Thin pasta fresca (fresh pasta), for instance, tagliolini, should not be overwhelmed by a powerful sauce either. A little butter, a few truffle shavings or grated Parmesan are quite sufficient.
On the other hand, heavy pasta fresca such as tagliatelle re particularly good when served with a strong sauce of mushrooms, cheese, cream, ham or even with fish.
In case of dried pasta the choice of possible combinations is wider. Because pasta secca (dried pasta) does not have a very strong taste it is all the more dependent on the accompanying sauce. Here the rule is: the bigger the space inside the pasta, the more sauce it can soak up.
Sauce to serve with pasta
Aglio e olio
Olive oil and garlic sauce suits long pasta like spaghetti and linguine.
Ai fruiit di mare
Seafood is mostly suitable for very thin, long pasta like spaghetti or capelli d’angelo.
All’amatriciana
A sauce of tomatoes and bacon suits long, tubular pasta like bucatini or macaroni.
Alla Napoletana
This classic tomato sauce suits almost all kinds of pasta.
Allo spezzatino
Draised meat is good with pasta strips.
Burro e salvia
Butter and sage improve all kinds of pasta even those with filling.
Carbonara
This sauce of bacon, cheese and egg suits long, thin pasta. Browse our carbonara recipes.
Pesto
The spicy paste of basil, olive oil, pine kernels, Pecorino and garlic suits the strips as well as the long thin kinds, and can even go with filled pasta.
Ragu alla Bolognese
Minced meat red or white wine sauce suits all long kinds of pasta and can be used as a filling for lasagne.
Salsa di noci
This Ligurian walnut sauce suits pasta strips.
Sugo di pesce
Sugo made from tomatoes and fish goes with pasta with big spaces inside like macaroni or penne.
