People often ask me which pasta goes with which sauce (and when I start to explain some wish they'd kept their mouth shut lol) so in this little series I'll attempt to list some of the more popular varieties together with a typical authentic italian recipe. Although matching the right sauce to the right pasta isn't essential it does make a huge difference. Pasta shapes in Italy are designed very scientifically with very specific sauces in mind to eat them with. Italians are a fickle bunch and the wrong type of pasta with the wrong type of sauce is almost guaranteed to get you dirty looks for the rest of the night!
Today we'll start with...
First let me dispel a myth. Marco Polo did not introduce Spaghetti to Italy after discovering noodles in China. The fact is that pasta had already existed in Europe for a very long time before that. A fourth century B.C. Etruscan tomb has a bas-relief carving of a group of natives making what appears to be pasta. Pasta in Italy is a very very long tradition!
Spaghetti, traditionally, is never eaten with a Bolognese sauce. This is a relatively new British pairing of the two. Ask for Spaghetti Bolognese in a Trattoria in Italy and expect to see the waiter snigger and make a comment along the lines of
bloody tourists. The reason a Bolognese sauce is never eaten with spaghetti is because the pasta does not hold the little bits of mincemeat very well. How often have you eaten your spaghetti Bolognese only to have a bowl full of mince at the end?
Spaghetti should be eaten with a very thin sauce that can coat each strand individually. Examples of this are
spaghetti a olio e aglio e pepperoncini (spagetti with olive oil, garlic and chilli flakes), spaghetti carbonara (authentic carbonara uses no cream) and spaghetti napolitana (spaghetti with a fresh basil and tomato sauce.
Spaghetti a olio e aglio
(serves 4 as a starter)
Ingredients
1 packet good quality spaghetti
2 crushed cloves of garlic
Extra virgin oil
Crushed chilli flakes
Grated Parmesan or Pecorino
Salt & Pepper
Chopped parsley to garnish
Method
Cook the spaghetti in a large saucepan of salted boiling water according to the packet instructions.
About 4 minutes before the pasta is ready, heat roughly 100 ml of olive oil in a large frying pan and sauté the garlic and chilli. When the garlic turns golden-brown, add ½ cup of hot pasta water to stop the garlic cooking any further. Remove from the heat while you drain the pasta.
Return the pan to high heat and add the pasta, parsley and a little more olive oil. Keep tossing the pasta. The pasta water and oil will emulsify, thickening and coating the spaghetti. Season to taste with salt and pepper and sprinkle with parmesan or pecorino cheese.