The editorial team’s favorite pasta sauces
We have no idea how people ever managed without pasta. Although there is an impossibly wide range of pasta sauces to choose from, there is always one favorite. Here are the FavorFlav editorial team’s favorites.
Marcus – Pasta with black winter truffle
At least once a year, I treat myself (and my beloved, whom I always make very happy with it) to a plate of pasta with fresh black truffle. Not a few pathetic slivers, but one or two substantial specimens (about 50 grams for two people). The real black winter truffle, that is, which is available between December and March and is at its peak in January. Sourced from my local traiteur, who imports them directly from France. A dish of astonishing simplicity, made with pure ingredients of the very best quality. This is how I make it.
Use the best fresh ribbon pasta (tagliatelle or a slightly thinner variety). Cook briefly in water with a little salt until the pasta is al dente. Heat butter in a frying pan over low heat until melted, but not browned. Drain the pasta and toss it, along with the moisture clinging to it, through the warm butter. Divide the pasta between the two plates. Stir some grated Parmesan into the hot pasta, to taste. Shave the truffle(s) into paper-thin slices (use a mandoline for this) over the pasta and toss together. A divine dish for which I am happy to spend fifty euros—even if it is only once a year.
Emma – Spaghetti carbonara
My ultimate pasta favorite is carbonara. Mainly because the sauce is ready while the pasta is cooking, making it one of the very best recipes for when you are short on time. And secretly also because I am an egg nerd and love watching the mixture of egg, cheese and black pepper turn into a wonderfully glossy sauce from the heat of the pasta. Of course I always make far too much, but I eat every strand.
Renée – Pasta puttanesca
The sauce of all sauces for me is puttanesca—although I have to admit that I never make it entirely the way it should be made. I always add an excessive amount of anchovy fillets, and I do not hold back on the chili peppers either. I often leave out the oregano, on the other hand, simply because I find I have run out of it. You make this pasta sauce—which consists mainly of canned or jarred ingredients—when you have nothing in the house but still want to eat something divinely delicious and plentiful.
Marjan – Pasta e ceci
Until I ate it once at a local little restaurant in the tourist town of Assisi in the Italian province of Umbria, I did not even know that Italians ate chickpeas. Surrounded by tables full of garbage collectors at lunchtime, I was surprised by the simplicity of the dish: linguine (a slightly thicker spaghetti) with just a hint of a red sauce and al dente chickpeas. That was literally all, and it was heavenly. Last summer I ate the ultimate version in Puglia and learned where those chickpeas came from: the Arabs, who lived in the Salento area of Puglia for a long time and left their mark there in culinary terms as well. The version in Puglia is called ciceri e tria. A small portion of the pasta strands is always fried for extra bite
Nadia – Ragù alla Bolognese
I lived in Italy, where I learned to make real ragù alla Bolognese. And make no mistake: it is a meat sauce with tomato, not a tomato sauce with meat. A true classic that regularly appears on our table. Preferably with tagliatelle or penne. The trick lies mainly in using good pancetta. Other than that, there is not much to it—mostly simmering. For hours. While the house fills with the most wonderful aromas, I set the table and open a good bottle of red wine, naturally the same wine that goes into the sauce.
Esther – Ravioli with burro e salvia
Fresh ravioli filled with spinach and ricotta is my favorite. And preferably with a simple sauce of browned butter and sage (burro e salvia). That butter sauce is very smooth and almost nutty in flavor, enhancing the subtle taste of the other ingredients. A few crunchy sage leaves (fried in the pan) finish the dish perfectly.
Laura – Spaghetti alla vongole
I love pasta and seafood. No wonder this combination is my favorite. The way the flavor of the clams settles into the rich strands of spaghetti and, after you have slurped them down, still clings a little to your lips. It also looks so beautiful with the shells mixed through the pasta, even though the shells are not even the best part. The sauce is what makes spaghetti alla vongole so delicious. And when everything is gone, of course I have to lick the plate completely clean.
