Have Your Pasta Italian Style

Meat

Sagne e fagioli is a rustic dish from the Abruzzo and Molise regions. It is prepared with beans cooked in tomato sauce with strips of homemade pasta added to the pot toward the end of cooking. The homemade noodles are made with flour and water and the sauce is made with tomatoes, celery, carrots, onions, chilli pepper and olive oil. The dish can include pancetta or pork rinds.

Pasta alla Norcina is a dish with origins in the Umbrian town of Norcia. The dish is made with short pasta like penne or rigatoni, crumbled Norcia sausage, onions, white wine, cream, and a lot of grated pecorino cheese. Some versions include black truffles or wild mushrooms and use pasta like spaghetti and tagliatelle.

Marubini is a stuffed pasta dish that originated from Cremora in Lombardy. The pasts dough consists of flour and eggs and is shaped into little scalloped rounds similar to ravioli. The pasta is filled with breadcrumbs, melted beef marrow, parmesan, and eggs or a combination of beef marrow, parmesan, braised beef, roast pork, or veal. They are cooked with rich meat stock and drained and dressed with melted butter and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Rigatoni con la pajata is prepared with la pajata the intestines of calves that have been only fed with their mothers' milk and have never eaten grass. The intestines get cleaned and skinned and the milk that was drunk is left in the intestines. When cooked the combination of heat and enzymes coagulate and make a thick, creamy ricotta-like sauce. The pasta is cooked with onions, celery, carrots, tomatoes, white wine, lardo, and spices served over rigatoni.

Tagliatelle alla boscaiola is a pasta dish prepared with porcini mushrooms. In different regions, it is prepared as the bianco version with heavy cream or rosso with tomatoes. The dish is flavored with onions, shallots, pepper, salt, chopped parsley, white wine, sausages or pancetta. Usually prepared in the autumn when the mushrooms are available or made with dried porcini mushrooms.

Sugo alla Genovese is a traditional sauce that originated in Naples. The sauce is made by sauteeing veal or beef in olive oil with lots of onions, carrots, and celery for up to 10 hours. To enhance flavors beef stock or white wine is added. It is paired with pasta like ziti or rigatoni and garnished with tomatoes and topped with grated pecorino.

Balanzoni is a pasta dish from Bologna. The dish is made with large green tortellini-like pasta stuffed with ricotta, spinach, eggs, Parmigiano Reggiano and chopped mortadella or pork loin. The pasta is green because it was made with spinach. When done it i served with butter and sage sauce.

Paglia e fieno originated in the Siena region. The name of this dish means straw and hay referring to the spinach pasta as hay and the yellow egg pasta as straw. The pasta is combined with onions, prosciutto, peas, olive oil, and heavy cream and topped with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, ground pepper, and chopped parsley.

Ravioli alla Genovese is a traditional Ligurian dish and a Christmas classic, The ravioli is stuffed with a mix of meat, endive, and borage and served with a sauce called tocco. The tocco sauce is made with a single cut of meat and cooked at a low temperature for hours. The sauce is used to flavor the ravioli and the meat is partly used for the filling and partly served as the main dish, The dish is sprinkled with freshly grated Parmigiano.

Papperdelle alla lepre is an ancient dish from Tuscany. It is made with hare meat and the hare is marinated first in wine, vinegar, and aromatic herbs and then simmered slowly with chopped onions, carrots, celery, wine, tomatoes, bay leaves, salt, pepper, and stock. The plate usually has lots of meat and a few ribbons of pasta.

Seafood

Spaghetti al cartoccio is a traditional pasta dish that comes from the Abruzzo region. It is a dish usually made in the Chieti province using a special method known as al cartoccio, where the ingredients are wrapped and baked in foil. The dish is made with olive oil, garlic, clams, squid, shrimp, prawns, tomatoes, white wine, parsley, and spaghetti. The wine used is Trebbiano d'Abruzzo. The seafood is cooked with garlic and once the liquid has evaporated from the seafood the other ingredients are added. The pasta is tossed with the sauce and everything is wrapped in foil and baked until the pasta is al dente.

Pasta alla carrettiers is prepared with spaghetti, parsley, tuna, chilli peppers, garlic, and porcini mushrooms. In Sicily, the dish is made with spaghetti, parsley, tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, chilli peppers, and Pecorino cheese. The dish is usually accompanied by white wine.

Spahetti ai ricci di mare is a pasta dish made with spaghetti and sea urchins, usually sea urchin gonads that produce roe. The sea urchins are cooked for a short time to preserve texture and flavor. The sauce is prepared with olive oil, garlic, and salt. Parsley is used as a garnish and lemon wedges are served on the side.

Spaghetti con la bottarga comes from Sardinia and is prepared with bottarga, a locally-produced cured mullet roe. This is the egg sack from the grey mullet. The cooked spaghetti is tossed with olive oil with garlic, a mixture of pepper, finely chopped parsley, grated bottarga and some spoonfuls of pasta water.

Pasta e alici is a pasta dish made with anchovies and toasted breadcrumbs. The dish is a combination of crispy toasted breadcrumbs, pepperoncini, olive oil, chopped tomatoes, and anchovies over al dente pasta. Raisins, pine nuts, or grated lemon zest can be added.

Tagliatelle al Salmone is a pasta dish made with fresh egg pasta, cream, and chunks of smoked salmon. Some tomato paste is added to the sauce as well as peas or white wine. Best enjoyed served warm.

Vegetables

Cjarsons is a pasta dish from the Friuli region. The pasta is similar to ravioli and prepared with potatoes and filled with wild herbs, ricotta, raisins, potatoes, cocoa, cinnamon, and other spices. The dish is both sweet and savory.

Ciceri e tria is a dish from Apulia with Arabian and Sicilian origins. It is made with pasta and chickpeas. Usually served as a first course in restaurants. The dish can also include onions, carrots, garlic and black pepper. A part of the pasta is fried in olive oil to give it that taste of meat.

Orecchiette con cime di rapa is a pasta dish made with broccoli rabe. It originated in the Apulia region in its capital Bari, The orcchiette have a good shape for scooping up chunky boiled broccoli rabe. The dish is sprinkled with freshly grated aged hard chees like Pecorino-Romano and some crushed peperoncino flakes. When serving drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil.

Casoncelli bresciani is a stuffed pasta dish that originated in Brescia. Thin pasta sheets are folded over the filling and pressed at the edges. The filling can contain meat or vegetables like spinach or Swiss chard and other versions include breadcrumbs, grated Grana Padano, meat broth, ham, spinach or Swiss chard, garlic, sage, and parsley.

Pasta al limone is a dish that consists of pasta like spaghetti, olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, parsley, basil, salt, pepper, grated cheese and heavy cream or white wine. When making the dish heavy cream is combined with lemon juice and zest to make a sauce then mixed with the pasta, It is seasoned with salt and freshly ground pepper and topped with grated cheese.

Culurgiones D'Oliastra is known as Sardinian ravioli and a typical dish of Olgiastra. The delectable handmade dumplings are shaped to look like an ear of wheat and filled with potatoes, pecorino cheese, lard, onions, garlic, and mint. It is usually covered with flavorful tomato sauce and sprinkled with grated cheese.