Tomato sauce can refer to many different sauces made primarily from tomatoes, usually to be served as part of a dish, rather than as a condiment. Tomato sauces are common for meat and vegetables, but they are perhaps best known as bases for sauces for Mexican salsas and Italian pasta dishes. Tomatoes have a rich flavor, high water content, soft flesh which breaks down easily, and the right composition to thicken into a sauce when stewed, without the need for thickeners such as roux or masa. All of these qualities make them ideal for simple and appealing sauces.
Carbonara is a pasta dish made with fatty cured pork, hard cheese, eggs, salt, and black pepper. It is typical of the Lazio region of Italy. The dish took its modern form and name in the middle of the 20th century.
Fettuccine is a type of pasta popular in Roman cuisine. It is descended from the extremely thin capelli d'angelo of the Renaissance, but is a flat, thick pasta traditionally made of egg and flour. At about 6.5 mm, it is wider and thicker than, but similar to, the tagliatelle typical of Bologna, which are more common elsewhere in Italy and is often used as a synonym. Spinach fettuccine is made from spinach, flour and eggs.
Penne are an extruded type of pasta with tubular pieces, with ends cut at an angle. They are usually made from wheat flour.
Rigatoni con la pajata is a classic pasta dish of Roman cuisine. It can be found in some traditional trattorias in Rome.
Coda alla vaccinara is an oxtail stew in modern Roman cuisine including various vegetables, notably celery. The tail is considered offal, nicknamed in Rome the quinto quarto.
Cacciatore or cacciatora refers to an Italian meal prepared with onions, herbs, usually tomatoes, often peppers, and sometimes wine.
Chili sauce and chili paste are condiments prepared with chili peppers.
Amatriciana sauce, known in Italian as sugo all'amatriciana or as salsa all'amatriciana, is a pasta sauce made with tomatoes, guanciale, pecorino romano cheese, black pepper, extra virgin olive oil, dry white wine, and salt. Originating in the comune (municipality) of Amatrice, the amatriciana is one of the best known pasta sauces in present-day Roman and Italian cuisine. The Italian government has named it a prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale (PAT) of Lazio, and amatriciana tradizionale is registered as a traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG) in the EU and the UK.
Tunisian cuisine, the cuisine of Tunisia, consists of the cooking traditions, ingredients, recipes and techniques developed in Tunisia since antiquity. It is mainly a blend of Mediterranean and native Punic-Berber cuisine. Historically, Tunisian cuisine witnessed influence and exchanges with many cultures and nations like Italians, Andalusians, French and Arabs.
Neapolitan cuisine has ancient historical roots that date back to the Greco-Roman period, which was enriched over the centuries by the influence of the different cultures that controlled Naples and its kingdoms, such as that of Aragon and France.
The cuisine of Libya is a mix of Berber, Arab and Mediterranean cuisines with Ottoman and Italian influence. One of the most popular Libyan dishes is bazin, an unleavened bread prepared with barley, water and salt. Bazin is prepared by boiling barley flour in water and then beating it to create a dough using a magraf, which is a unique stick designed for this purpose.
Roman cuisine comes from the Italian city of Rome. It features fresh, seasonal and simply-prepared ingredients from the Roman Campagna. These include peas, globe artichokes and fava beans, shellfish, milk-fed lamb and goat, and cheeses such as pecorino romano and ricotta. Olive oil is used mostly to dress raw vegetables, while strutto and fat from prosciutto are preferred for frying. The most popular sweets in Rome are small individual pastries called pasticcini, gelato and handmade chocolates and candies. Special dishes are often reserved for different days of the week; for example, gnocchi is eaten on Thursdays, baccalà on Fridays, and trippa on Saturdays.
Carciofi alla romana is a typical dish of Roman cuisine of pan braised artichokes. During spring-time in Rome, the dish is prepared in each household and is served in all restaurants. It represents one of the most famous artichoke dishes of the Roman cuisine, another being carciofi alla giudia, a deep-fried artichoke dish that originated in the Jewish community of Rome.
The traditional cuisine of Abruzzo is eclectic, drawing on pastoral, mountain, and coastal cuisine. Staples of Abruzzo cuisine include bread, pasta, meat, fish, cheese, and wine. The isolation which has characterized the region for centuries has ensured the independence of its culinary tradition from those of nearby regions. Local cuisine was widely appreciated in a 2013 survey among foreign tourists.
Pasta alla gricia is a pasta dish originating in the Lazio region of Italy.
Abbacchio is an Italian preparation of lamb typical of the Roman cuisine. It is consumed throughout central Italy as an Easter and Christmas dish. Abbacchio is a product protected by the European Union with the PGI mark.
Spaghetti alla carrettiera is a pasta dish originating in the Platani Valley, nowadays more common in eastern Sicily. It is generally made with spaghetti, garlic, chili pepper, pecorino siciliano or breadcrumbs, parsley, and olive oil for dressing, and commonly tomato is added. Sometimes additional ingredients such as anchovies, capers, almonds or pine nuts and white wine are also included. The oral tradition is that the pasta dish originated with carters who brought the dish prepared in advance, on their wagons for lunch.
