Pasta sauces and dishes

Pasta sauces and dishes are the ways pasta is dressed and served: a sauce (sugo or condimento in Italian) is combined with freshly cooked pasta, and the shape is chosen to hold it. No law defines a pasta sauce; the classic recipes are fixed by tradition, but several ingredients they rely on are protected names, such as Pecorino Romano, Parmigiano Reggiano and Basilico Genovese.

Most classic sauces are built from very few ingredients. Carbonara from Rome uses guanciale (cured pork cheek), egg yolks or whole eggs, pecorino and black pepper; the traditional recipe contains no cream. Amatriciana, named after the town of Amatrice, adds tomato to guanciale and pecorino. Cacio e pepe is only pecorino, black pepper and starchy cooking water. Aglio, olio e peperoncino is garlic, extra virgin olive oil and chilli. Pesto alla genovese is basil, pine nuts, garlic, salt, olive oil and aged cheese — parmesan and/or pecorino. Ragù alla bolognese is a slow-cooked meat sauce with onion, carrot, celery, tomato and wine, sometimes finished with milk; in Bologna it is served with egg tagliatelle or baked in lasagne rather than with spaghetti. Fettuccine Alfredo are dressed only with butter and parmesan.

Technique matters as much as the recipe. Pasta is boiled in plenty of salted water, drained al dente and tossed for a minute in the pan with the sauce. A ladle of cooking water, rich in starch, binds fat and cheese into a creamy emulsion — this is how cacio e pepe and carbonara become smooth without cream. The eggs for carbonara go in off the heat so they thicken without scrambling.

Shape and sauce work together. Long thin pasta such as spaghetti or linguine suits oil-based, tomato and seafood sauces; ridged short tubes such as rigatoni or penne rigate hold chunky sauces; wide ribbons of egg pasta such as tagliatelle or pappardelle carry meat ragù; tiny shapes go into soups such as pasta e fagioli. Filled pasta needs only light dressings: butter and sage, or broth.

Knowing these pairings helps you read a menu, pick the right shape in a shop and cook a classic dish from a handful of good ingredients.