Hardly any other country boasts as many kinds of pasta as Italy. And Italians have almost made a science of determining what sauce goes perfectly with which pasta.
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00:00 Did you know that there are hundreds of different pasta shapes in Italy?
00:05 And just as many sauces?
00:07 Today I'm going to show you some of the best combinations.
00:12 I'm Cooker Girl, content creator, food blogger and Italian cook.
00:21 And I love pasta.
00:23 I'm going to show you my favorite sauce and pasta combos.
00:29 We distinguish between long pasta, short pasta and pastina, which is mostly used in soups.
00:37 Every region has its traditional pasta varieties.
00:41 The most suitable sauce depends on the shape.
00:44 There are two types of pasta, durum wheat or semolina and egg pasta, like tagliatelle or fettuccine.
00:51 You can tell a good pasta by its rough surface.
00:55 This makes the sauce stick well, like on this spaghetti, which makes for a super creamy dish.
01:00 The queen of long pasta is spaghetti.
01:11 Does spaghetti go with ragu bolognese?
01:14 Not really.
01:17 Egg noodles, like this tagliatelle, go better with that.
01:24 It's rough and rustic, the perfect match.
01:27 One of the most popular combinations is spaghetti aglio e olio.
01:34 It's super easy and quick.
01:37 And this iconic dish is also known as midnight spaghetti.
01:41 In Italy, it's often an after-party food, eaten with friends, when you get hungry again around midnight.
01:52 Preferably, you just put the pan in the middle of the table.
01:56 And everyone digs in, straight out of the pan.
02:00 This is rigatoni, and traditionally it's made with amatriciana sauce.
02:13 Here we have peeled tomatoes, guacamole, and a little bit of tomato sauce.
02:20 Guacamele, bacon, and a good amount of pepper.
02:23 And please, always cook pasta al dente.
02:26 It's almost done. You can still see this white stripe here.
02:32 One more minute in the water and the pasta will be just right.
02:36 You also make amatriciana sauce with mezze maniche, which is thicker and shorter than rigatoni.
02:47 Norma's sauce also goes wonderfully with it. Tomatoes, eggplant, ricotta salata, the variations are endless.
02:54 Rigatoni is perfect for amatriciana sauce because the ridges are very good for absorbing the sauce.
03:02 Plus, the bacon cubes fit right into the noodles' hole.
03:12 Here we have troffie, an example of regional pasta typical of Liguria.
03:16 Troffie is accompanied by pesto alla genovese, which is made with basil, pecorino, parmesan cheese, oil, garlic, and pine nuts.
03:28 The scent of basil is to die for.
03:33 Troffie with pesto is iconic. When you think of either, they're inseparable.
03:39 On the package it says boil for 12 minutes, but I say boil for 10 minutes.
03:53 I'm going to boil for 10 minutes, and then I'm going to add the pasta.
03:58 On the package it says boil for 12 minutes, but I set the timer for 10, because I take it out and cook it in the sauce here for the last two minutes.
04:08 The starch from the pasta water coats the pasta, and that will give the amazing creaminess.
04:18 You have to twist them around on your fork. That's the perfect bite.
04:26 These were the basics of how to best match a sauce with a pasta shape.
04:30 We've seen a few recipes, but I have to say troffie with pesto is my favorite.
04:35 Have fun trying them and buon appetito!
04:39 Buon appetito!
04:41 Mmm, buon appetito!
04:43 [MUSIC PLAYING]