Food & Cooking Recipes Ingredients Pasta and Grains 16 Classic Italian Pasta Recipes Everyone Should Know How to Make By Victoria Spencer Victoria Spencer Victoria Spencer is an experienced food editor, writer, and recipe developer. She manages the Martha Stewart recipe archive and is always curious about new ingredients and the best techniques. She has been working in food media for over 20 years. Editorial Guidelines Updated on January 18, 2023 Close Make noodle night extra special by dipping into our collection of classic Italian pasta recipes. You'll find dishes you know from your favorite restaurants, spring vacation on the Amalfi Coast, or Sunday nights spent sitting around your nonna's table. In addition to recipes like Bolognese that require slow cooking on the stovetop, we've included classics that are much quicker to put together—like the 15-minute wonder that is our famous One-Pan Pasta. Other time-honored pastas have a short ingredient list but pack a lot of flavor, such as rich and creamy Spaghetti Carbonara and spicy options like Linguine Arrabbiata. These classic Italian pasta recipes are popular for good reason—make them all to taste why these dishes are such favorites. 01 of 16 Fettuccine Alfredo Kelly Puleio This classic has a sauce made with just Parmesan and butter. Since it's so simple, it's key to use quality ingredients. Our recipe uses chef Missy Robbins' homemade fettuccine, but you can swap in store-bought fresh noodles. View Recipe 02 of 16 One-Pan Pasta Maxwell Cozzi This is a revolutionary technique that hails from the region of Puglia. The dried pasta is cooked in a skillet—not the usual large pot—along with the other ingredients. The result is maximum flavor and minimal dirty pots. View Recipe 03 of 16 Red-Wine Pasta Bryan Gardner In Italy, this distinctive dish is called spaghetti all'ubriaco or "drunken" pasta. It's a quick recipe that combines thin strands of spaghetti with a reduced red wine-shallot sauce finished with pancetta and grated pecorino. View Recipe 04 of 16 Cacio e Pepe Utterly simple, totally irresistible, and classically Roman—yes, this is that famed pasta with cheese and freshly cracked pepper. We opt for two types of cheese and add a squeeze of lemon to set our recipe apart. Don't be intimidated by the process; our step-by-step guide to cooking this classic makes it simple. View Recipe 05 of 16 Pasta e Fagioli Gabriela Herman You might just call this "pasta fagioli," but Italians would never drop the "e" in this hearty soup made with pasta, cranberry beans, and vegetables. View Recipe 06 of 16 Pasta Carbonara Bryan Gardner Bacon and eggs—and Parmesan—meet pasta. Spaghetti is the traditional choice for this velvety sauce, but feel free to go alla carbonara with other noodles. View Recipe 07 of 16 Lasagna Justin Walker Like much else in Italy, there are different takes on lasagna from different regions. This version features a hearty meat sauce made with ground beef and pork sausage and layers of a rich cheesy filling. There are also versions made with greens and vegetables. View Recipe 08 of 16 Pasta Puttanesca Made with ingredients you likely already have on hand, this spicy melange of tomatoes, capers, anchovies, and olives is fast to make and lively on the palate. There's also an oven-roasted version of this sauce. View Recipe 09 of 16 Pasta Bolognese Of course, we had to include this favorite. Depending on where your nonna is from, you might call this thick meat sauce a ragu. Our version uses both ground beef and ground pork, as well as the essential milk, nutmeg, and white wine. View Recipe 10 of 16 Linguine with Clams Katherine Wolkoff A combination of oil, clam broth, and white wine creates an almost creamy sauce for this pasta "con le vongole." The clams are left in their shells, and a generous sprinkling of parsley provides the finishing touch. If, like in Campania and the south of Italy in general, you prefer a red clam sauce, try this recipe. View Recipe 11 of 16 Penne alla Norma Here's a hearty vegetarian penne recipe with eggplant, tomato, and ricotta from Sicily. It might have been inspired by the opera "Norma" by Sicilian composer Vincenzo Bellini. View Recipe 12 of 16 Tortellini en Brodo Legend has it that these little twists of filled pasta were inspired by the navel of the famous beauty Lucrezia Borgia as viewed through a keyhole by a curious cook. Here, they are served simply in broth, a traditional festive first course. View Recipe 13 of 16 Pasta Pomodoro Pomodoro, which is Italian for tomato, is a fitting name for this crowd-pleasing dish. View Recipe 14 of 16 Bottarga Pasta Krause, Johansen From Sardinia comes this elemental pasta with a true taste of the sea. It's made with just the pressed dried roe of tuna or mullet roe (bottarga) and a little oil, garlic, parsley, and breadcrumbs. Bucatini or perciatelli? Your choice. View Recipe 15 of 16 Spaghetti with Sicilian Pesto Bryan Gardner Not the usual Genoese pesto, this Sicilian take uses roasted red pepper, fresh tomatoes, anchovies, capers, and golden raisins for sweetness. Toasted almonds replace the pignoli used in basil pesto but Parmigiano is a constant. It's quick to make and wonderfully flavorful View Recipe 16 of 16 Linguine Arrabbiata A fiery dose of crushed red-pepper flakes gives this pasta dish its name, which means "angry" in Italian. A simple and flavorful tomato, garlic, and white-wine sauce provides a base for the spicy seasoning. View Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit