We’re all familiar with the classic spaghetti, red sauce, and meatballs. But did you know that there are hundreds if not thousands of unique and exciting pasta sauces beyond the traditional red fare? Here are the top five most common pasta sauces and their background. Mangia!
ALFREDO SAUCE
Not exactly an uncommon sauce, the Alfredo is a classic creme based sauce from northern Italy. Originally made from fresh cream and cheese from the farms in the northern regions of Bologna and Milan, Fettucine Alfredo is one such Italian dish in which the sauce is mixed with the long noodly fettucine pasta to make a creamy and delicious meal. It has been enjoyed since the late 1700s.
CARBONARA
Carbonara is another classic sauce from the north of Italy, involving bacon and ample amounts of black pepper. Using cream and butter, this is another sauce from the North The addition of pork and bacon add a salty and peppery sauce. Carbonara has a real kick to it so buckle up for flavor!
BOLOGNESE
Staying in northern Italy, another great sauce from these farmland cities is Bolognese. Bolognese is like a meat and cream-based sauce, served with some tomatoes as well. It’s often ground beef and pork cooked super tender and moist in fresh cream and cheese. It’s served with less noodle-shaped pastas like spaghetti or linguine, but instead with penne or ziti.
MARINARA
Here it is, the classic sauce you think of when you think of spaghetti. Marinara is super simple, it’s tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, and basil. When you think of a thick tart pasta sauce, this is what you’re imagining. The tomatoes add a bright red freshness to it, a real burst of bright color, and when dressed over pasta or meatballs with a little basil, it’s the Italian cooking most people crave when you’re craving pasta and sauce.
PICCATA SAUCE
Chicken Piccata is a chicken cutlet cooked in a simple southern Italian sauce, made from garlic, capers, lemon juice, and white wine. This sauce shimmers with the olive oil and becomes clear and golden that is every bit aromatic as it is delicious and fresh. The tartness of the lemon and the sweetness of the garlic create a perfect symphony for a clean lightness, perfect for the summer. You can make the sauce independently of the chicken, and serve it over cavatappi for a light fresh dinner, too.
While these are just five of the nearly hundreds of sauces for pasta out there, these are five of the most popular, with millions of little variations available to you. From the cream and meat-based sauces of northern Italy, to the smooth and light olive-oil based sauces from southern Italy, you can’t go wrong when choosing a sauce. Moreover you’ll certainly never be disappointed, so grab your fork and get eating!
