Pasta Pasta!

Anyone who reads these pages with any regularity knows I have a lifelong passion for pasta. I thought I’d collect here, the various step-by-step recipes to make them easier to find. I’ll probably rearrange the categorization as time goes on, depends on how they strike me.

Peculiar Pastas

I started this series in 2016 to explore some relatively unknown pastas. Most of them were ones I wasn’t familiar with either, and so it was a voyage of exploration for me as well as my readers.

1. Grano arso/Grano bruciato - a “burnt grain” pasta - not a particular shape, but a particular way of making the pasta dough

2. Stradette - again, more a particular type of dough, traditional in Piemonte, utilizing cornmeal in the mix

3. Strozzapreti - a traditional hand-formed twisted pasta from central Italy, translating as “priest stranglers” and a classic ragú

4. Pici - a thick rope of a pasta from the area around Siena, along with a simple alle briciole (with breadcrumbs) preparation

5. Umbricelli - another thick noodle, “earthworms” of pasta, squared off, from Umbria, with an olive and mushroom cream sauce

6. Picchiettini - a matchstick pasta - short and thin, again from Umbria, with a savory lamb, tomato, and rosemary ragú

7. Langanelli - an irregular shaped wide pasta from south central Italy, made from whole wheat flour, paired with sautéed chickpeas

8. Lunas de Serramanna - one of the most unusual pastas I’ve encountered, almost a flatbread of pasta, from Sardinia with tomato sauce

9. Ravioli della Val Pusteria - the only rye based pasta I’ve encountered in Italian cooking, with a ricotta and spinach filling

10. Crozets - French buckwheat pasta from Savoie, here used to make croziflette, a pasta based version of the potato dish tartiflette

11. Raviole Alagnesi - almost more a salami-stuffed dumpling or gnocchi, based on cornmeal, from northern Piemonte

12. Pasta mista - a Neapolitan dish using a mix of leftover and broken bits of pasta, with pancetta, potatoes, tomatoes, and smoked cheese

13. Strascinati di grano saraceno - a Puglian dish of “dragged” ovals of pasta, a bit like a flat orecchiete, made from buckwheat flour

14. Vermicelli con Salsa Marinetti - a contest winning dish with artichokes, ham, and pistachios, created in response to an attempted pasta ban

15. Tortello sulla lastra - a large, rectangular raviolo from northeastern Tuscany, griddled rather than boiled or fried, usually with a squash and pork fat filling

Most of my pasta posts have been random, though at a couple of points I took on explorations of the pastas of certain regions. That seems like the best way to organize them.

Abruzzo

• Maccheroni alla pecorara - thick rings of pasta in a spicy vegetable and pancetta sauce

Basilicata

• Troccoli con baccalà - a rich, spicy, umami packed tomato and salt cod sauce tossed with squared off spaghetti

Calabria

• Spaghetti alle cipolle rosse - a surprisingly delicious, albeit sweet, red onion sauce

• Spaghetti con pesce espada - a delightful fish pasta, though this version was not quite traditional

Campagna/Naples

• Paccheri al forno ripieni - a labor intensive stuffed and baked pasta dish

• Pasta mista con le patate e provola affumicata - mixed and broken pasta with pancetta, potatoes, tomatoes, smoked cheese

• Spaghetti aglio e olio - easily the simplest pasta of the region, but so easy to screw up, garlic, chilies, and oil

• Spaghettoni alla putanesca - probably the best known Neapolitan pasta, with its strong, competing flavors

• Spaghettoni alla caprese con tonno - violating the supposed, but not real, rule about not mixing fish and cheese

• Spaghetti alla Nerano - a fried zucchini based pasta, though not exactly the traditional way of making it

• Spaghetti alla colatura di alici - a simple traditional pasta made with a little known ingredient, Neapolitan fish sauce

Emilia-Romagna/Bologna

• Anolini in brodo - plump pillows filled with slow braised meat served in a rich three-meat broth

• Fettuccine Bolognese - fettuccine and bolognese would not be traditionally paired in the region, so this is more about just the sauce

Friuli-Venezia Giulia

• Biecchi/Blecs - mixed grain triangle “patches” of pasta, in two simple and delicious presentations

Lazio/Rome

• Rigatoni alla gricia - the oldest of the “four classic Roman pastas”, and more or less the progenitor of the other three

• Spaghetti cacio e pepe - the simplest of the classic four, really just three ingredients

• Spaghetti alla carbonara - the third classic adds eggs to the original, but its history isn’t so straightforward

• Bucatini alla amatriciana - the tomato version of the above three classic pastas

• Fettuccine Alfredo - one chef’s version of a simple butter and parmigiano pasta that got twisted into a worldwide sensation

• Fettuccine alle rigaglie di pollo - little known outside of Rome, I can’t think of a better use for those little packets of chicken giblets

• Lasagne ai funghi - not your Bologna style lasagna, this is an exquisite white lasagna made with wild mushrooms

• Rigatoni al sugo di coda alla vaccinara - another less known pasta, and one of the best sauces I’ve ever had that uses oxtail

• Pasta alla zozzona - a comfort mashup of carbonara, amatriciana, with the addition of fennel sausage

Liguria/Genoa

• Corzetti con il ragú de tomate secche - delicate and decorative coins of wine pasta in a rich tomato sauce

Lombardia

• Penne alla vodka - the story behind this modern creation, and an international favorite

• Pizzoccheri alla Valtellinese - a heavy winter dish of buckwheat based pasta, potatoes, cabbage, and a whole lotta butter and cheese

• Tagliatelle integrali con scarola e fonduta di taleggio - whole wheat pasta in a creamy, delicious cheese sauce

Piemonte

• Raviole Alagnesi - almost more a salami-stuffed dumpling or gnocchi, based on cornmeal, from northern Piemonte

• Stradette - again, more a particular type of dough, traditional in Piemonte, utilizing cornmeal in the mix

Puglia/Bari

• Spaghetti all’assassina - surprisingly complex “risotto” style fried spaghetti with a rich, spicy tomato sauce

• Spaghetti alla tarantina - a deliciously fragrant mussel, tomato, and wine pasta

• Strascinati di grano saraceno - a Puglian dish of “dragged” ovals of pasta, a bit like a flat orecchiete, made from buckwheat flour

Sardegna

• Lorighittas al sugo di pollo ruspante - an obscure twisted ring pasta from a small town, Morgongiori, prepared annually for All Saints Day

• Lunas de Serramanna - one of the most unusual pastas I’ve encountered, almost a flatbread of pasta with tomato sauce

Sicily

• Bucatini allo scoglio - shellfish, wine, garlic, chilies, maybe some tomato, what more could you want?

• Bucatini c’anciuova e muddica atturrata - one of the four classic bucatini of the island, with anchovies, tomato paste, and fried breadcrumbs

• Bucatini chi vruoccoli arriminati - another of the classics, here with cauliflower or romanesco

• Bucatini con le sarde - and, a third, with fresh sardines and fennel

• Busiate alla pesto trapanese (agghiata trapanisa) - a helical pasta tossed with a local almond and basil based pesto

• Busiate con bottarga, colatura di alici, e limone - a Sicilian-Neapolitan hybrid invention, pairing classic flavors with a helical pasta

• Casarecce con le fave - one of my personal favorites in spring, when the broad/fava beans are fresh and green

• Maccheroni alla Norma - the most famed pasta of the island, made differently from the way I learned it, but I like it

Trentino-Alto Adige

• Ravioli della Val Pusteria - the only rye based pasta I’ve encountered in Italian cooking, with a ricotta and spinach filling

Tuscany

• Pennette alla boscaiola - “lumberjack’s” pasta sauce of bacon, mushrooms, tomato, and cream

• Pici alle briciole - thick ropes of pasta finished with toasted breadcrumbs, chili, and garlic

Umbria

• Pappardelle con ragú di cinghiale - a wild boar ragú tossed with silky ribbons of semolina pasta

• Picchiettini con ragú de agnello - thin matchsticks of pasta with a rich tomato and lamb ragú finished with black truffle

• Umbricelli alle Olive - thick squared off “earthworms” of pasta with an olive and mushroom cream sauce

NOT ITALY

Argentina

• Bucatini con scarparola - a maybe Calabrese inspired spicy tomato sauce

• Bucatini con tuco - a Genovese inspired meat and tomato sauce

• Espaguetis con boloñesa - a quicker, less complex version of the Emilia-Romagna classic

• Espaguetis con filetto - the Argentine version of Italian salsa di tomate.

• Espaguetis a la pomarola - a Tuscan inspiration, and a sauce often paired with chorizos

• Espaguetis con salsa portuguesa - a sauce more often used over chicken, but available over pasta

• Fussili con salsa Principe de Napoli - a rich, baked pasta dish with ham, mushrooms, peas, and lots of cheese

France

• Crozets - French buckwheat pasta from Savoie, here used to make croziflette, a pasta based version of the potato dish tartiflette

Peru

• Tallarines con atún - a Peruvian, or possibly Spanish, adaptation from, as a guess, Neapolitan immigrants post-WW2

• Tallarines rojos con pollo - classic dish from Italian immigration in the mid-19th century, loosely based on a marinera sauce

United States

• Spaghetti Napoli - okay, this is an American version of a vaguely Neapolitan recipe from a century plus old cookbook, different, and tasty!