Anyone who reads this blog 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

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

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

Emilia-Romagna/Bologna

• 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 – 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

Lombardia

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

Peru

• 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!