Four Iconic Pasta Dishes in Italy and where to find them

What a treat it is to fly to Italy - where al dente is not just a word but a way of life – and where a plate of pasta is not a guilty pleasure but a pillar stone of society, community and culture. Across the country, different regions specialise in different pasta dishes based entirely on their local produce. From pasta alla norma made from Sicilian aubergines to tagliatelle al ragu, made from Bologna’s beloved beef, there is a myriad of varying pastas to experiment with. But what are the specific dishes that connoisseurs and food fanatics travel the lengths of Italy to sample themselves? The world of Instagram and social media has given icon-status to certain dishes and the restaurants which make them, but which are actually worth the journey, the long queues, the price, the itinerary centred just around this one culinary experience?
Here are four of Italy’s most legendary pasta dishes and where to find them.

PENNE ALLA BETTOLA, Alla Vecchia Bettola, Florence
Every time I return to Florence, I complete my pilgrimage to Alla Vecchia Bettola, which despite its ever-growing popularity, does not lose its charm, authenticity or flavour. The waiters (who are always the same ones by the way) will guide you to your marble-topped table or any available nook left within the bustling four walls. They’ll zip around the trattoria’s narrow pathways handing you paper menus, plonking carafes of wine before you, and laying down fragrant plates of freshly sliced cold cuts before they’re gone in a flash to serve the next eager diners. But there is order to this chaos and the team’s operation is as smooth as the dish which you must come here for: Penne alla Bettola. At first glance, you may think this is just a standard vodka pasta, but with one bite, you’ll understand your mistake. This recipe has been refined to perfection; the silky, tomatoey, creamy sauce which is unsparingly slathered onto your plate is only made better with the finely shaved parmesan that you’ll let snow over it. Even the size of the ribbed penne (which captures the sauce exquisitely) is vital to the your enjoyment. Take care to savour your bites because no matter how hard you try, it is nigh on impossible to recreate Penne alla Bettola at home despite its deceiving simplicity. And you almost wont want to without also reliving the atmosphere of the restaurant after which the dish is named. The two are intrinsically linked and unmissably good. 

SPAGHETTI ALLA NERANO, Lo Scoglio da Tommaso, Amalfi
Spaghetti alla Nerano has been dubbed as Stanley Tucci’s favourite pasta in the world but he’s not the only one. Named after the town of Nerano on the Amalfi Coast, where the dish was invented, the star of the show is tender and juicy zucchini, sliced razor thin, then fried, caramelised and harmonised with just a handful of other high-quality ingredients; basil, parmesan and butter which are amalgamated and anointed with extra virgin olive oil. You’ll find this dish at Lo Scoglio, an iconic restaurant on the peninsula opposite Capri, whose tables are scattered on a platform that juts out of the Mediterranean waters. The taste of sea salt whips through the air as you dine underneath a shaded veranda with dappled light streaking through the wooden roof. The restaurant is family run; the third generation of Di Simone’s are the current custodians. Their Spaghetti alla Nerano and their dishes in general are so exceptional and so tied to the land because they grow their own produce nearby and catch fish in the surrounding sea. The aim is fresh, local, seasonal dishes and the result is icon status to the food and to its makers.

SPAGHETTI CARBONARA, Salumeria Roscioli, Rome
You can’t visit Rome without having at least one of its four principal pasta dishes (for the record, these are Carbonara, Amatriciana, Cacio e pepe, a Alla Gricia), but where you indulge in them is vital. For a sure-fire Carbonara, there’s nowhere like Roscioli which has a history dating back to the 1800s. Over the centuries the Roscioli family have honed their skills in Roman food and Roman hospitality starting with a bakery and followed by a deli, a café and a restaurant all in the same quarter. Their Salumeria Roscioli is where you’ll go for your Carbonara. When you walk through the hole in the wall, you are greeted by an old-school grocery store, with wine lining the walls from floor to ceiling, a classic glass counter showcasing hunks of meat and cheeses, and all kinds of delicacies stocked anywhere there is space. The Rosciolis want you to feel their history; the atmosphere of being surrounded by Rome’s finest fresh produce is vital to your experience. In the back, are the dining tables and there, you will twirl your perfectly al dente spaghetti coated in utterly creamy carbonara sauce and topped with crunchy yet tender guanciale (the secret, the Rosciolis say, is cooking the meat in an iron pan).
Roscioli’s success has been so meteoric that it has opened one of its branches in New York City. Expanding internationally can run the risk of losing the charm of the original establishment, but this has not been the fate of the Roscioli’s. They reliably and consistently serving the best Carbonara in the eternal city.

TROFIETTE AL PESTO, Sà Pesta, Genova
Pasta with pesto is everyone’s favourite lazy meal. It takes 2 minutes to whip up at home and even less time to pop open a storebought jar (gasp!) but eating a plate of pasta al pesto in the sauce’s home region of Liguria, is close to a religious experience. Made from the aromatic basil that grows with care and abundance in the Ligurian soil, you’ve never seen a brighter green grace your plate. And at Sa’ Pesta in the heart of Genova’s old town, the Benvenuto (their name literally translates as ‘Welcome’) family will show you how real pesto is done. It’s a treat to enjoy a meal in Sa’ Pesta’s unpretentious and authentically warm trattoria which feels as though not a single chair has changed since its opening in the 1950s. In the Genoese dialect, Sa’ Pesta means ‘crushed salt’ paying homage to the salt trade which was one of Genoa’s main sources of income in antiquity. Before Sa’ Pesta was a trattoria, it was a shop selling the coarse crystals. The Benvenuto family’s aim is one of continuation with their past. They prepare hearty dishes that sing of their home and its history; the name of their establishment encompasses this.