This traditional Italian meat sauce consists of ground beef, pork, or a combination of both, that is sautéed alongside a sofrito of onions, carrots, and celery, a splash of red wine, and canned tomatoes. The mixture is traditionally seasoned with salt and pepper, and it can optionally be enhanced with tomato paste and porcini mushrooms.
Sugo di carne is typically enjoyed over pasta dishes such as penne, rigatoni, tagliatelle, fetuccine, or pappardelle, which are often sprinkled with freshly grated parmesan cheese on top. This traditional meat sauce is also frequently used in the preparation of lasagna.
Pesto Genovese is a sauce with origins in the Italian city of Genoa. Traditionally, it consists of basil, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil, and cheeses such as Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino. Its name stems from the word pestare, meaning to pound or crush, referring to the original method of making the sauce with a mortar and pestle.
It is said that pesto originated from the ancient Romans who ate a paste called moretum, made by crushing together ingredients such as cheese, herbs, and garlic. Pesto is usually used with pasta, traditionally with trofie or trenette, but can also sometimes be served with sliced tomatoes or boiled potatoes.
MOST ICONIC Pesto Genovese
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Ragù alla Bolognese was invented in the late 18th century by Alberto Alvisi, a chef of Pope Pius VII. The base of this classic is made with beef, pork or a combination of both, as well as ripe, fresh tomatoes or tomato purée, red or very dry white wine, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.
Common additions may also include Italian pancetta and milk or cream. Traditionally, ragù alla Bolognese is served with tagliatelle pasta, and it is an essential part of lasagne alla Bolognese. It can also pair well with pappardelle, fettuccine or homemade farfalle.
Named after Amatrice, a provincial town in the Sabine Hills northeast of Rome; the iconic Amatriciana sauce is often considered a part of the "holy trinity of Roman pasta", together with carbonara and cacio e pepe. Amatriciana was invented in the 17th century by adding tomatoes to the already famous gricia sauce – diced tomatoes are sautéed in fat rendered from juicy bits of guanciale (cured pork jowl), then tossed together with grated pecorino cheese and either spaghetti or bucatini pasta.
The first recipe for Amatriciana was published in the 1790 cookbook L’Apicio Moderno by Francesco Leonardi, a renowned Roman chef and author. Over time, this classic Italian dish became so popular it was featured in several movies, from Alberto Sordi’s 1954 film An American in Rome and Luciano Salce’s 1978 Where Are You Going on Holiday? to Ryan Murphy’s Eat Pray Love, in which Julia Roberts joyfully wolfs down a portion of spaghetti all’Amatriciana while sitting on the terrace of a typical Roman osteria.
MOST ICONIC Amatriciana
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Mujdei is the Romanian version of garlic sauce. It consists of garlic cloves, sunflower oil, pepper, and water. The cloves are mashed with other ingredients, and the sauce is then typically served with fish or fried potatoes. Mujdei can vary in texture from runny to thick.
The name of this sauce is derived from must de ai, meaning must of garlic.
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Sugo alla Genovese is a traditional sauce that, despite its name, originates from Naples, but it was likely brought over to the city from Genoa by Genovese immigrants during the Renaissance period. The sauce is prepared by sautéeing veal or beef in olive oil with large amounts of onions, carrots, and celery for a long time, usually from 2 to 10 hours.
White wine or stock are often added to the sauce to enrich its flavors. Once done, sugo alla Genovese is served either as it is or the meat is served separately from the sauce. It's traditionally paired with pasta types such as ziti or rigatoni, and the dish is then garnished with tomatoes and topped with grated pecorino.
MOST ICONIC Sugo alla Genovese
Ragù Napoletano is a traditional meat and tomato sauce originating from Naples. In the past, it was prepared by the portinai or doormen who sat while observing the comings and goings of tenants as well as the sounds of the barely simmering dish, hence its other name, ragù guardaporta.
This ragù is cooked very slow and long over very low flames. Unlike the famous ragù alla Bolognese, the Neapolitan version doesn't start with a battuto (carrots, onions, celery), includes huge amounts of tomato sauce, and incorporates whole cuts of meat instead of ground or chopped meat.
MOST ICONIC Ragù Napoletano
First popularized in the 1940s at a restaurant called Café de Paris in Geneva, this sauce is thought to consist of a large number of ingredients such as butter, ketchup, Dijon mustard, capers, shallots, parsley, chives, marjoram, dill, thyme, rosemary, garlic, anchovies, chicken livers, brandy, Madeira, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, curry powder, lemon, orange zest, salt, and cayenne powder, although the exact recipe is still closely guarded by the restaurant.
The sauce is traditionally served with sliced beef steaks. Even though the exact recipe will possibly never be known to the general public, the sauce is still a staple of a few selected restaurants in Switzerland, Portugal, Dubai, Hong Kong, and Sweden.
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MOST ICONIC Café de Paris Sauce
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Narsharab is a unique Azerbaijani sauce consisting of evaporated pomegranate juice that is combined with sugar and spices such as basil, cinnamon, coriander, salt, and ground black pepper. Its flavor is best described as tangy and sour. It is recommended to use narsharab with meat and fish dishes, but it can also be used as a marinade or as a dressing for various salads, while some people like to add the sauce into desserts.
This rich garlic sauce is similar in texture to mayonnaise, and is commonly used in the cuisine of Provençe in France and Catalonia in Spain. Provençal aïoli consists of egg yolks, olive oil, and garlic, while the Catalan version consists only of garlic, salt, and olive oil.
Its name comes from ail, meaning garlic, and oli, the Provençal word for oil. Some historians claim that its origins lie in a Roman sauce called aleatum, which was also made with garlic and oil. A sauce similar to aïoli was first mentioned by Pliny the Elder, Roman procurator of Tarragona, in his first-century encyclopedia Naturalis Historia, in which he describes garlic and its powerful medicinal properties.
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