Everyone loves pasta, but not everyone knows how to pair it with sauces and how to make them. Fortunately, in today’s world, the most renowned chefs share their culinary secrets online. Let’s learn how to make the perfect pasta sauce.

Cooking Italian pasta with sauce

Pasta is an Italian dish that has won the hearts of millions of people around the world. It is easy to buy in stores (the main thing is to know how to choose it correctly). It cooks quickly, is healthy, and is very tasty. However, cooking delicious pasta is not so easy. It is not enough to cook your favorite fusilli or tagliatelle al dente; you also need to prepare a sauce that will give the pasta a special taste, aroma, and brightness.

Davide Oldani: spaghetti with tomato sauce

The famous chef uses three of the most traditional Italian ingredients: spaghetti, tomatoes, and basil. He prepares a dish for four servings.

  1. Bake the tomatoes. Take 7 cherry tomatoes and make a small cut in each one, then dip them in boiling water for 8-10 seconds. Rinse with cold, preferably ice-cold water and peel off the skin. Cut the tomatoes into quarters and remove the seeds. Place them on a baking sheet. Drizzle the cherry tomatoes with olive oil, sprinkle with coarse salt, and add a couple of sprigs of thyme. Bake in the oven at 130 °C for 40-45 minutes.
  1. Prepare the sauce. Place several medium-sized raw tomatoes, cut into quarters, at the bottom of a small saucepan. Add a small amount of water and boil for 3-4 minutes. Blend the contents of the saucepan and return to the heat. Cook the pasta at the same time!
  2. Cook the spaghetti. Boil 70 grams of spaghetti in a large amount of boiling salted water for 3 minutes. Do not oversalt the water!
  3. Combine the pasta and sauce. Transfer the pasta to the saucepan with the boiling sauce and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Add salt.
  4. Serve the dish. Divide the spaghetti between 4 plates. Add finely chopped basil, mint, and a few pieces of baked cherry tomatoes. Drizzle the dish with extra virgin olive oil.

Antonio Guida: Spaghetti with Black Pepper and Cheese

The chef adds an unusual ingredient to the classic pasta with cheese and pepper, known in Italy as “cacio e pepe”: bullheads! Comment from Gastronom ru: good bullheads are hard to find these days, so try replacing them with small raw smelt or capelin. Just make sure to clean the fish first!

  1. Prepare the spices. Heat 30 grams of black peppercorns for 10 seconds in a dry frying pan. This will bring out the aroma and flavor of the pepper. Grind it in a mortar.
  2. Melt the cheese. Grate 180 grams of hard, aged, salty cheese on a fine grater. Transfer to a saucepan and gradually add a ladleful of boiling water, whisking continuously. The mixture should have the consistency of liquid sour cream.
  3. Cook the spaghetti. Boil 300 grams of spaghetti in a tall pot with plenty of water. See the pasta package for the exact cooking time.
  4. Fry the fish. Fry 300 grams of fish in olive oil in a deep frying pan, adding the zest of 1 lime.
  5. Serve the dish. Transfer the spaghetti to the pan in which the fish was fried. Pour over the sauce, season with freshly ground black pepper, and stir. Don’t forget the lime zest; add it to each plate.
By Blog, Chef's Tips