Remember my post on how to make authentic Italian marinara sauce a few days ago? And remember how I also said I was going to share how Italians traditionally eat this sauce with their pasta?
Well, today’s the day! And I am so excited because this is life changing (I mean culinary wise). See, I went into our cooking class in Italy hoping for a few tips and tricks for making pasta but ended up learning that my entire idea of what “Italian food” really is was wrong! 
In fact, I am embarrassed to say that I have always thought spaghetti and meatballs were a quintessential Italian dish! Who knew that in Rome, the only time you will EVER see meatballs served is fried and on top of a bed of green peas (and if you see a menu advertising spaghetti with meatballs, know that you have fallen into a tourist trap). I mean, what? Completely different from our Americanized version.
And that’s not even the craziest part. 
What really blew my mind was that, according to our chef, they NEVER serve red sauce with spaghetti noodles. It’s basically seen as blasphemy to do so and their reasoning is that spaghetti noodles, due to their shape and how they are made, don’t actually absorb any of the sauce. And so what you end up with is a pile of noodles topped with a scoop of sauce that just kind of sits on top and never really gets absorbed. But they solve this problem by serving red sauces with fettuccine noodles because they actually soak up all of the delicious sauce. Who knew, right?
So this is how you truly eat “spaghetti” in Italy. With fettuccine noodles and a homemade sauce! And to kick it up a bit, I added a touch of red pepper flakes to give it a little heat. Totally optional 🙂
* Oh! And head back next week for a photography how-to on lighting! It’s going to be awesome!
- 1 box fettuccine noodles
- 1 tsp. red chili flakes
- 2 cups homemade marinara sauce (Iused this recipe)
- Bring a pot of water to a boil and season with 1 tsp. of salt.
- Add the fettuccine noodles and cook according to package instructions.
- Before draining, take about ½ cup of the cooking liquid and set aside.
- Toss the noodles with the marinara sauce and add about 1 tbs. of the cooking liquid as well as the red chili flakes.
- Serve warm, or leave covered in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.
What a great post Aubrie. This looks soo tasty! I can’t believe that in Rome meatballs are served on top of green peas and not spaghetti !?! Have to try this “spaghetti” with homemade marinara sauce 🙂
Thanks so much, Ana! And neither could I! And let me know what you think!!
So fun that you are learning so much and having such a great time in Italy.