Top 5 Italian pasta recipes

Though Italian food is something we hear a lot about, which real Italian pasta recipes best capture the essence of the various regions?

Every region of Italy, from the bright beaches of the islands to the frigid areas of the north, has unique culinary customs that are frequently encapsulated in a delicious pasta dish!

This post will take us on a journey to discover five traditional Italian pasta recipes, along with their history and some intriguing unique facts.

5 real pasta recipes from Italy: background and enquirer

These recipes will take your taste buds to various parts of Italy, whether you're an aspiring cook or just a pasta fan. You'll be able to enjoy the unique flavours and scents that elevate Italian pasta to the status of culinary art.

These are my top five favourite real Italian pasta recipes!

Meatballs with pasta

For many years, the dish that represents Italian immigration to the United States has been spaghetti with meatballs. Being among the poorest people in America at the time, the poor Italian immigrants could hardly afford a plate of spaghetti and canned tomatoes. Italians started searching for less expensive meat cuts as soon as they could save some cash, and they frequently came upon ground beef. The beef was kneaded with less expensive ingredients like bread, grated cheese, and herbs to add flavour, in order to prolong its shelf life and increase its nutritional value. To add more flavour to the dish, meatballs were added to the tomato sauce.

Spaghetti with 'pallottoline' was a common speciality in Abruzzo, where the tradition was most likely introduced to the United States.

Sauce Amatriciana

Although Amatriciana sauce does not have an official recipe found in any cookbook or recipe book, it is highly probable that the dish was popular in Lazio as early as the 1800s. It is a descendant of "Gricia," but with tomatoes added. Amatrice, in Lazio, is where it got its start.

This recipe was first documented in writing in 1816, when Roman chef Francesco Leonardi brought the dish to the papal palace. The pasta prepared in the Matrician style was a terrible dish, but it was so well-liked that it quickly rose to fame. Leonardi served it once more at the supper held at the Quirinal Palace in honour of the Austrian Emperor Francis I.

Pasta with pesto sauce

Beautiful Liguria is where the pesto sauce first appeared. Its original recipe called for just seven ingredients. Garlic, pine nuts, coarse salt, Grana Padano cheese, Sardinian pecorino cheese, basil, and extra virgin olive oil. To make one of the best and most popular sauces in Italian cooking, you need just a few ingredients.

A legend is entwined with its past. It is said that an aromatic herb that grew there was chosen by St. Basil, a monk who resided in a convent atop Prà, and the herb was subsequently dubbed basil in his honour. He made the first pesto sauce in history by combining it with a few basic ingredients that the devoted gave him and pounding everything in a mortar, hence the name pesto!

Pasta alla vongola

Although it seems like a simple dish, spaghetti alle vongole is very difficult to prepare perfectly. To make the ideal sauce, a small number of very high-quality ingredients plus a highly skilled technique are needed.

Spaghetti alle Vongole originated in Naples, though they are now popular throughout Italy and a representation of the Italian summertime. The first time they were served was on Christmas Eve, 1762, at the court of Ferdinand IV of Bourbon, the ruler of the Kingdom of Naples. They have become the customary dish on the evening of December 24 ever since.

Pasta cacio e pepe

Pasta cacio e pepe is yet another representation of Roman cooking. It's one of the most popular real Italian pasta recipes ever and dates back several centuries.

During the flock's lengthy treks, Roman shepherds would pack pecorino cheese, black peppercorns, and dry spaghetti that was made by hand with wheat and water in their saddlebags. These three ingredients were chosen for a very straightforward reason: pepper warmed on chilly nights, pasta supplied food, and pecorino stored for a long time. Cacio e Pepe pasta was created and is now popular throughout Italy.

5 real Italian pasta recipes: how should they be made?

These ancient Italian pasta recipes, despite their seeming simplicity, are actually quite difficult to create if you do not know the proper method.

You can find all these recipes in our cookbook, along with five more real Italian pasta dishes, if you want to try making them at home. With pictures and a list of all the ingredients, I walk you through each stage of the dishes' preparation.

Discover more recipes here