Spaghetti aio oio, one of the most classic Roman dishes, is the one dish that all Italian

men know how to make. It's also quite popular as a late night snack among friends, say
after a night out at the theater. To serve 4-6 you will need:
Prep Time: 05 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced, or more to taste
1/2 a dried chili pepper, crumbled, or more to taste (don't overdo it, and fresh hot
peppers, will be fine too)
1/3 cup good olive oil
1 pound spaghetti
Grated Parmigiano or Pecorino Romano (optional)
Preparation:
Bring 6 quarts of lightly salted water to a boil and add the spaghetti. Meanwhile, mince
the garlic, crumble the red pepper, and sauté them in the oil until the garlic begins to
brown. Turn off the heat (the garlic will continue to brown; you don't want it to
overbrown and become bitter).
When the spaghetti are done, drain them well, transfer them to a bowl, and stir the sauce
into them. Serve with grated Parmigiano or Pecorino Romano on the side; some people
like it, including some Romans, whereas others, especially traditionalist Romans,
shudder at the idea.
The wine? A white, from the Castelli Romani.
Yield: 4-6 servings spaghetti aio oio.

Fiesolana Sauce is a smooth, creamy, cream sauce, and will work well over pasta or
stuffed pasta, especially tortellini with a meat filling. If you modify the recipe slightly,
you instead obtain an Alfredo sauce. To begin, the Fiesolana sauce, which will serve 4:
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
A 1-pound (500 g) package of Penne
2 ounces (50 g) Prosciutto Toscano
1 tablespoon flour
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup (250 ml) milk
1/3 cup (80 ml) cream
Salt and pepper to taste (this will depend on how seasoned the prosciutto is)
1/2 - 3/4 cup cooked fresh green peas (optional)
Grated cheese to taste
Preparation:
Make a béchamel sauce by melting a tablespoon of butter and carefully stirring in the flour to
keep lumps from forming. Cook until the mixture is a pale brown, then add the milk, a few
drops at a time, stirring all the while. Continue cooking over a low flame till the sauce thickens
somewhat, and then stir in the cream, heat through, and set aside. Meanwhile, set the pasta to
cook in salted water. Shred the prosciutto and lightly sauté it in a large skillet with the remaining
butter. Add the béchamel sauce and the peas to the prosciutto and keep the sauce warm. When
the pasta is just shy of being cooked, drain it, turn the flame under the sauce to high, and finish
cooking the pasta by tossing it in the sauce. Serve with grated cheese to taste.
A Note: If you omit the peas and the prosciutto, you will obtain a smooth creamy sauce that
closely resembles an Alfredo sauce, though it's not quite as rich. Making a true Alfredo Sauce is
actually easier. You will need:
1 pound (450 g) fettuccine or other dried pasta
1/2 cup (100 g) unsalted butter
1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano
Salt and pepper to taste
A hint of freshly grated nutmeg, if you like it
Begin by setting pasta water to boil. Salt it, and add the pasta. While the pasta is cooking, melt
the butter over a gentle flame in a large skillet; do not let it froth or brown. When the pasta
reaches the al dente stage drain it and turn it into the skillet. Add the cream and the cheese,
season to taste, stir gently to coat the strands, and serve.
A wine? Depends upon the pasta. If I were serving the cream sauce over tortellini, I would go
with a light, zesty red, even a Lambrusco secco (dry Lambrusco). If I were instead serving it
over strands of pasta or short pasta, I would go with a white, perhaps a Vernaccia di San
Gimignano.

When Americans say two things go together like ham and eggs, Italians will reply they’re come
il cacio su’maccheroni (like cheese on macaroni). Gets the idea across. To serve 4:
Prep Time: 05 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
1 pound (400 g) spaghetti or other long thin pasta
1/2 cup (100 g) unsalted, very fresh butter
1 cup (50 g) grated Parmigiano or Pecorino Romano, as you prefer
A pinch of freshly ground pepper (white if you have it)
Salt to taste
Preparation:
Boil the spaghetti in lightly salted water. Melt the butter, grate the cheese, and warm the serving
bowl by holding it over the spaghetti pot.
Drain the pasta well and dump it in the bowl. Stir in the butter, cheese, and pepper, and serve.
A wine? A white from the Colli Romani.
Yield: 4 servings macaroni and cheese.

Pasta ai Quattro Formaggi, or Four Cheese Sauce for Pasta: I was

recently asked for a four cheeses sauce for pasta. Here are a couple
variations on four cheese sauce.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
Milk
4 kinds of cheese (see below for specifics)
Pasta
A pinch of nutmeg
A little white pepper
Preparation:
Quattro formaggi generally is milk-based; a container of commercially
prepared Salsa ai 4 formaggi I had in the refrigerator said it had
Gorgonzola, Fontal (a cheaper relative of Fontina), Grana (close cousin
to Parmigiano) and something called Italica, which is new to me.
There's also white wine and white pepper. What I make is quite
simple, and involves three cheeses rather than four. Once the pasta
water comes to a boil add the pasta (1 pound of 400 g for four
people), then take about a cup of milk and set it to heat over a
moderate flame, adding about a quarter pound each of Gorgonzola
dolce (the mild, creamy gorgonzola, not the sharp variety that
resembles Roquefort) and Fontina. Stir constantly because the
cheeses will settle, melt over the bottom of the pan, and burn if you
don't. Add a pinch or more of white pepper to taste, and a pinch of
freshly ground nutmeg if you like it.
When the pasta is just shy of being done, drain it. Transfer it to a
skillet, stir in the sauce, and 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano, and
cook over a brisk flame, moving the skillet as you would if you were
making an omelet to toss the pasta. Once most of the liquid is
absorbed and the pasta is cooked, serve. Reading the ingredients of
the commercial sauce in the refrigerator makes me wonder what
adding a quarter cup of white wine to the sauce just before tossing
the pasta would be like. Something to try the next time I make it from
scratch.
Fernanda Gosetti, on the other hand, suggests:
3/4 cup (150 g) unsalted butter warm enough to be quite soft
1/3 pound (150 g) soft Grana Padano or Parmigiano
3 ounces (75 g) Gruyere
3 ounces Edam (75 g; a Dutch cheese)
3 ounces (75 g) mozzarella
Freshly grated black or preferably white pepper to taste
While the pasta water is heating grate half the Grana and cut the
other half and the other cheeses into thin strips. When the water
comes to a boil salt it and cook the pasta; a minute or so before the
pasta is done swirl a ladle of boiling pasta water in the serving bowl to
heat it, and dump it out.
Drain the pasta and turn it into the heated bowl with the strips of
cheese the butter, and grated pepper to taste. Stir to melt the
everything and distribute the cheeses evenly, and just before serving
sprinkle the grated Grana over all.
One could do worse, though I'm not sure why she uses Edam. I might
go with Fontina instead, and you're of course free to use what
cheeses you like.
Though I have found Italian recipes for fried pasta, with these golden fettuccine it's the topping
that's fried, and though these might strike one as different they are actually very traditional and
quite refreshing in the summer months. To serve 4:
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
A scant pound (400 g) fettuccine
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
10 basil leaves, shredded
Salt
Freshly grated sharp pecorino Romano
Preparation:
Set pasta water to boil; salt it and cook the pasta, draining it when it reaches the al dente stage.
While the pasta is cooking, heat the butter in a pot large enough to hold the pasta, and briefly fry
the breadcrumbs and the shredded basil, stirring them about lest they burn. Turn the drained
pasta into the pot and mix well over high heat to coat the strands. Serve at once with abundant
pecorino Romano on the side.
Yield: 4 servings golden fettuccine.
Cappellini are fine-stranded pasta, and do an excellent job of bonding with
creamy sauces, in this case one with parsley. To serve 4:
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
14 ounces (340 g) capellini
An onion, minced
A bunch of parsley, with the prettiest sprigs set aside and the remainder
minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup heavy cream
Salt & white pepper to taste
Grated Parmigiano
Preparation:
Set pasta water to heat, salt it when it reaches a boil, and cook the pasta.

Wilt the onion in a pan with a little water and the wine, then blend the
mixture with the cream and check seasoning. Heat the cream and add the
minced parsley, timing things so you reach this step when the pasta is ready
to be drained. Drain the pasta, stir the sauce into it, garnish with the
reserved parsley sprigs, and serve with grated Parmigiano on the side.

Yield: 4 servings Capellini with Parsley Cream Sauce.

This Ligurian walnut sauce goes astonishingly well with ravioli and other
meatless stuffed pastas. Ravioli with walnut sauce are rich, so they’re best
suited for a midday meal (such as Sunday dinner), during the winter.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
1/2 cup of shelled, peeled, and minced walnut meats
1 1/4 cups (300 ml) milk
3 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
Salt and ground white pepper to taste
About a 1 1/2 pounds (700 g) fresh store-bought or home-made ravioli or
other meat-free stuffed pasta
Preparation:
To prepare the walnuts, shell them, scald the nutmeats in boiling water for a
few seconds, then peel and mince them.
Make a béchamel sauce by melting the butter in a small pot and carefully
stirring in the flour. Continue cooking over low heat till the flour’s lightly
browned, then, slowly add the milk in a thin stream, stirring briskly to keep
lumps from forming. If they do (and they may well), stop adding milk,
remove the pan from the fire, and stir the mixture till the lumps are gone
before adding more milk. When you’ve added all the milk, season with salt
and pepper and continue cooking, stirring gently, till the sauce thickens (this
will take several minutes). Then add the walnuts. You can also make the
béchamel sauce in a microwave oven: melt the butter and stir in the flour,
then stir in the milk and the salt and pepper. Heat the sauce over high heat
for 2 minutes and stir it briskly till most of the lumps are gone. Heat it for
four more minutes at medium power, stirring after two, then stir in the
walnuts and heat a last minute. Let it sit for a couple of minutes. In either
case, cook the ravioli in boiling salted water, drain them, and carefully stir
the sauce into them to keep them from breaking.
This volume of sauce will be sufficient for enough ravioli for 4.
A wine? Since this is Ligurian, I would go with a Pigato or a Vermentino, both
of which are whites.
Yield: walnut sauce for Ravioli to serve 4.