Pasta Dishes

Italy

Spaghetti alla chitarra con pallottine

Colatura is a unique preparation made by the fishermen of Cetara in Campania. It's a byproduct of preserving anchovies &ndash; they are packed in sea salt in wooden barrels, and occasionally a hole is made in the barrel so that the liquid can drip out of it. When distilled, the liquid develops a translucent sheen and acts as a strong fish sauce. When spaghetti are dressed with some of the colatura, olive oil, and saut&eacute;ed chili peppers and garlic, it becomes a delicious traditional dish known as spaghetti alla colatura.

Spaghetti alla colatura

Spaghetti alla Nerano is a traditional pasta dish originating from Nerano. The dish is usually made with a combination of spaghetti, zucchini, olive oil, garlic, butter, Provolone del Monaco cheese, basil, and salt. The zucchinis are thinly sliced, fried in oil, and drained. The spaghetti are cooked until al dente. The garlic is saut&eacute;ed in olive oil, removed from the pan, and the spaghetti are finished cooking in the same oil. A dab of butter is added to the pan along with the zucchini, and the dish is finished with grated provolone cheese and fresh basil before serving. If Provolone del Monaco is unavailable, it's recommended to use caciocavallo. This vibrant dish was invented in 1952 at Ristorante Maria Grazia Nerano.

Spaghetti alla Nerano

Spaghetti alla nursina

Puttanesca is a storecupboard sauce built from things that keep: tinned tomatoes, anchovy, capers, black olives, garlic, chilli and dried oregano. Naples and Ischia both claim it, and the most commonly cited origin is a restaurant on Ischia in the 1950s, where the owner Sandro Petti is said to have thrown together whatever was left for late guests. The name appears in print from the early 1960s, which fits that timeline better than the folk etymology involving prostitutes that gets repeated in English-language sources. Neapolitan versions tend to be drier and more olive-forward; Roman ones lean harder on anchovy.

Anchovy is the engine and it needs to disappear. Fillets go into warm oil with garlic and are pressed with a spoon until they melt completely, which takes a minute or two and leaves no visible trace, only depth. Salt-packed capers are worth the extra step of rinsing over the brined kind, since brine carries vinegar that reads sour in the finished sauce. Gaeta olives are the Campanian default, small, purple-brown and mild; a firm Greek kalamata will work but pushes the balance towards bitterness. The tomatoes go in after the aromatics and cook down for fifteen to twenty minutes, no longer, because the sauce should stay bright rather than turning into a long-simmered ragù. Oregano is added dried and late.

The sauce is already salty from three directions, so a good kitchen will have salted the pasta water lightly and left the seasoning alone at the end. If the plate tastes flatly salty rather than layered, that discipline slipped. You should be able to pick out each element separately: the capers as sharp points, the olives as something rounder, the anchovy as background savouriness rather than a fish flavour. Whole olives left unpitted are a common shortcut and an annoyance. Cheese does not belong here for the same reason it does not belong on vongole, and most Neapolitan kitchens will decline to bring it. If the sauce has been cooked for an hour it will have gone dark and sweet, which is a different and lesser dish.

Spaghetti alla puttanesca

Spaghetti all’assassina

Naples and the Campanian coast are the home ground for spaghetti alle vongole, and the first thing to establish about any given plate is which of the two versions it belongs to. In bianco means no tomato: clams, garlic, olive oil, parsley, chilli and the liquor the shells release. In rosso adds tomato, either a handful of halved cherry tomatoes or a light passata, and the Neapolitan preference splits by household rather than by rule. The clams themselves matter more than either choice. Vongole veraci, the carpet shell, have a thinner shell and a sweeter, more saline meat than the cheaper hard clams often substituted, and they are what the dish is built around.

Clams arrive full of sand and have to be purged: two or three hours in cold, well-salted water, drained and refreshed, and any shell that stays open when tapped goes in the bin. They open in a covered pan over high heat with a little oil and nothing else, and they come out the moment the shells part, because thirty seconds too long turns the meat rubbery. The cooking liquor is strained to catch grit and kept, and that liquor is the sauce. Garlic goes into oil until pale gold, never brown, then the strained liquor, then the pasta finished in the pan for the last minute or two so the starch it releases emulsifies the liquid into something that clings. The clams return at the very end, off the heat, with parsley.

Judge the sauce first: it should coat the strands and look faintly cloudy, which is the sign the emulsion took. Clear liquid pooling at the bottom of the bowl means the pasta was drained and dressed instead of finished in the pan. Grit between the teeth is a purging failure and it ruins the plate outright. Check whether the clams are still in their shells; shelled clams are usually a sign they were cooked ahead and reheated, and they will be tough. Cheese is not served with this and asking for it is a genuine error in Naples, since parmesan flattens the saline note that the whole dish depends on. Garlic browned to bitterness and chilli heavy enough to mask the clams are the other two common faults.

Spaghetti alle vongole

Spaghetti al nero di seppie

Spaghetti al rag&ugrave; di polpo is a traditional dish featuring spaghetti served with a rag&ugrave; sauce made from octopus (polpo). This dish originates from coastal regions of Italy, particularly in the south, where seafood is a central part of the cuisine. It&rsquo;s a flavorful combination of tender octopus and a rich tomato-based sauce, creating a unique take on the classic rag&ugrave;. The preparation involves slowly cooking octopus until tender, often with ingredients like garlic, onions, and white wine to enhance its natural flavor. The octopus is then chopped into small pieces and simmered in a tomato sauce made with San Marzano tomatoes or similar high-quality varieties. Aromatic herbs such as parsley, basil, or oregano are often added, along with a touch of chili for subtle heat. The sauce is cooked slowly to develop its flavors, allowing the octopus to infuse the tomato base with its briny, slightly sweet essence. The spaghetti is cooked al dente and then tossed with the rag&ugrave;, ensuring each strand is coated in the flavorful sauce. The dish is often garnished with a sprinkle of fresh parsley and a drizzle of high-quality olive oil, enhancing its freshness and richness.

Spaghetti al ragù di polpo

United States

Spaghetti Bordelaise is an American dish originating from New Orleans. Basically, the dish is Italian spaghetti aglio e olio with the addition of butter and the removal of browned garlic. The French Creoles also add white pepper instead of black pepper, giving the dish a nice French twist. In order to prepare it, garlic is saut&eacute;ed over olive oil and butter, and as it begins to take on a golden color, it's removed from the pan. White pepper and parsley are then added to the pan, and the sauce is tossed with cooked and drained spaghetti with a bit of the cooking water until everything is well coated. It's recommended to pair the dish with Pinot Grigio or Chardonnay. Spaghetti Bordelaise also make for a great side dish to oysters Mosca, which is also the most famous version of the dish served at Mosca's restaurant, just like this one.

Spaghetti Bordelaise

Spaghetti con la bottarga is a popular pasta dish from Sardinia, flavored with bottarga, a renowned, locally-produced cured mullet roe. For this simple, yet very delicious dish, cooked spaghetti are first shortly tossed in garlic-infused olive oil, then flavored with a mixture of pepper, finely chopped parsley, grated bottarga, and a few spoonfuls of pasta water. Quick and easy to make, spaghetti con la bottarga is a favorite Sardinian primo and the best proof that there is no need to complicate when cooking with high-quality ingredients.

Spaghetti con la bottarga

Spaghetti con pomodori secchi

Greece

Spaghetti me anthotyro is a pasta specialty hailing from the island of Crete. Traditionally, the spaghetti are boiled in goat or sheep meat stock before they are served drizzled with the stock and topped with a generous amount of local anthotyro cheese. It usually uses the dry variety of anthotyro cheese known as anthotyro xero, a type of hard, white goat&rsquo;s and sheep&rsquo;s milk cheese characterized by a salty flavor and a crumbly texture. This simple combination is believed to have been created by Cretan shepherds in the comfort of their mitata (small round stone houses built in the mountains). On Crete, this dish is typically prepared and offered on various celebratory occasions, including traditional Cretan weddings. Pieces of boiled goat or sheep meat are usually served in a separate dish on the side.

Spaghetti me anthotyro

Spaghettini alla Siracusana

Spaghettini verdi is a traditional pasta dish originating from Tuscany. It's made with a combination of extra-thin spaghettini pasta, butter, garlic, parsley, salt, pepper, and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. The spaghettini are cooked in salted water, drained, then returned to the pot with the butter, garlic, grated cheese, and parsley. The dish is seasoned with salt and pepper, tossed, and immediately served on heated plates. If prepared properly, the pasta should be coated in a creamy green sauce.

Spaghettini verdi

Spaghetti pie is a traditional pie originating from Colorado. Although it&rsquo;s often dubbed the most iconic pie of Colorado, spaghetti pie is savory and not sweet, like most other iconic state pies. It&rsquo;s made with a combination of spaghetti, ground beef, onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, butter, beaten eggs, and cheese such as mozzarella, ricotta, or parmesan. Parsley, basil, and oregano are often added to elevate the flavors. Once assembled, this savory pie is topped with cheese and baked in the oven until the cheese melts and the pasta becomes golden brown.

Spaghetti Pie

Spaghetti sciuè sciuè

Croatia

&Scaron;porki makaruli or makaruli na krvavo is a traditional dish originating from the Dubrovnik area. The dish is made with a combination of makaruli pasta, beef, pork fat, onions, tomatoes, red wine, parsley, garlic, cloves, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. The meat is cut into chunks, then saut&eacute;ed with onions in pork fat. Tomatoes are added to the pot, followed by red wine and lukewarm water, parsley, garlic, cloves, bay leaves, and seasonings. The dish is slowly cooked for about two hours. The leftover fat is poured over the cooked pasta, followed by the meat and the accompanying sauce. As a finishing touch, the dish is traditionally topped with grated sheep or goat cheese. The name &scaron;porki makaruli means dirty macaroni, referring to the practice of serving the dish &ndash; when the meat was eaten, the last guests were served a plate of pasta drizzled over with the leftover meat sauce. Locals traditionally prepare the dish for the feast of Sveti Vlaho (Saint Blaise, the patron of Dubrovnik).

Šporki makaruli

Strascinati con la menta is a traditional pasta dish that originates from Basilicata and is a specialty of Tito. It consists of strascinati pasta (similar to orecchiette, but larger) and a sauce made with olive oil, butter, lardo, garlic, and fresh mint leaves. The mint leaves are sprinkled over pasta just before the sauce is added. Optionally, you can use chili pepper flakes. That's the white version of the dish, but there's also a red one, made by adding a few dried sweet peppers to the sauce.

Strascinati con la menta

Strascinati con mollica e peperoni cruschi is a simple pasta dish from the Italian region of Basilicata, prepared with two popular local products: strascinati pasta and crispy flakes of crumbled, locally-grown heirloom red peppers, known as peperoni cruschi. Strascinati is a pasta variety typical for southern Italy that is made by pressing small chunks of dough over wooden boards until the pieces attain their distinctive olive leaf shape. The pasta is then paired with simple ingredients such as olive oil, anchovies, garlic, breadcrumbs, peperoncini, salt, and sweet peperoni cruschi. This rustic dish is a true representative of cucina povera&mdash;a culinary concept that is based on the usage of cheap, locally sourced ingredients to create flavorful and filling dishes. It is recommended to serve strascinati with a glass of fruity local white wine on the side and to (optionally) top the dish with grated caciocavallo cheese.