There are many spaghetti recipe variations which makes it one of the most popular Italian dishes in North America and around the world. Primarily the noodles are cylinder shaped and can be served plain, with tomato, cream or rose sauce and with or without meat.
There is a spaghetti recipe for all occasions including when a fast meal is needed as there are really endless spaghetti dishes that many people simply do not realize. Italian spaghetti noodles are traditionally made from semolina however other ingredient variations such as flour is used when spaghetti is made in other parts of the world.
Spaghetti Recipe Noodles
Originally spaghetti noodles were 20 inches long, but over the years, the length has been shortened to the modern 10-12 inches sometime around the latter half of the 20th century. It is believed that spaghetti originated in southern Italy in the 12th century and gained its name from the Italian root word of "spago", spaghetti means "thin string" or "twine".
Did you know there are actually four sizes (forms) of spaghetti?
- Spaghetti alla Chittara - common in length but a thicker square shape noodle rather than the traditional round spaghetti noodle but not as thick as fettuccine and not as common.
- Spaghettoni - it is a cylindrical type pasta that is standard length but it is a thicker style spaghetti noodle.
- Spaghetti - the most common style spaghetti noodle both in length and thickness.
- Spaghettini - is a very thin style of spaghetti also known as Angel Hair pasta.
Available in fresh or dried formats, spaghetti is one of those foods where you get what you pay for. Spend a little extra money and buy the higher end spaghetti. Look for a dried spaghetti from Italy or one that is made with semolina. Fresh pasta will cook faster than dried so remember to adjust the cooking time with fresh spaghetti noodles when your are following a spaghetti recipe.
Spaghetti Cooking
Spaghetti itself is extremely easy to prepare. Simply add the noodles to rapidly boiling, well salted water. Don't add oil to the water. While it's true that it does keep the pasta from sticking together (regular stiring with a proper sized pasta pot will also keep it from sticking together). The oil coats the pasta and prevents it from mixing and sticking to the sauce. Un-oiled pasta will absorb the sauce and it's flavor rather than letting it pool at the bottom of the plate. It is important to allow all the flavors of the noodle and sauce to blend together, making the dish a tasty delight.
As with all pasta, vigorously boiling water is the key. Be sure to use a large pasta cooker pot (comes with internal strainer) with plenty of water too. The pasta will cook much more evenly when it has room to move and is completely covered with water at all times. Stirring occasionally helps to keep the pasta from sticking together. Pasta is ideally cooked when it reaches a state of "al dente". This means the pasta is soft but with a hint of texture. Overcooked pasta will be completely soft and has a tendancy to turn mushy very easily. When draining the pasta, reserve a bit of the pasta water. The excess water can be added to the sauce if it is to thick and will help the spaghetti (or any pasta) adhere to the sauce. It might look a bit watery at first so don't be concerned. Let the sauce sit and everything will thicken up in a few minutes and be ready when served.
Spaghetti Sauces
Spaghetti is completely a blank slate when it comes to flavor, leaving many options for a good spaghetti recipe. Young children often like spaghetti because of it's mild, non descript taste. However, this is where the choice of sauce plays such an important role. A simple tomato sauce will add a mild flavor to the spaghetti while a bold, meaty Bolognese sauce will not only add tremendous flavor but texture to the pasta dish.
Grilled chicken and a light cream sauce will again completely change the taste of the spaghetti dish. Spaghetti tossed with pesto is also an excellent combination, especially if the menu calls for something a little more elegant than the usual spaghetti and tomato sauce. The perfect finishing touch to any spaghetti and sauce combination is grated hard cheese like Parmesan, Asiago or Romano cheese. Spaghetti can also be tossed in sauce, covered with mozzarella or provlone cheese and baked in the over too. Add pieces of chicken, cooked sausage or meatballs for extra flavor and substance.
Spaghetti Recipe
Leftover spaghetti can be used in a variety of recipes too. Spaghetti pie (pasta pie) is a very popular Italian inspired spaghetti recipe dish that uses leftover spaghetti. Simply mix in eggs and parmesan cheese, press into a buttered pie plate and make a well. Pour in a cottage cheese and spaghetti sauce mixture and top with mozzarella. Bake and enjoy your new favorite spaghetti recipe! This is a great way to re-invent leftovers for the next night. Let your imagination create your own unique leftover spaghetti recipe! And when you do, come back and share the spaghetti recipe with us!
Homemade Spaghetti Noodles
Fresh homemade spaghetti noodles will change your view on dried store bought pasta noodles versus fresh made pasta. Making your own pasta noodles is delightfully satisfying from start to finish when you get to enjoy the fresh noodles. Making your own pasta noodles at home is not a complicated process, it just requires your time and a little work. Spaghetti recipe for pasta dough is very simple with minimal ingredients and two ways to make the dough (manual or machine). There are two types of pasta machines (pasta makers) that helps transform, cut and create the desired pasta noodle.
Pasta Maker Machines
Hand Operated Pasta Makers (manual) - this style of pasta maker clamps to our working table (surface). You need to make the dough first than feeding it through the pasta makers rollers to bring the dough to the desired thickness. Most hand operated machines will make flat types of pasta such as spaghetti, lasagna, fettuccine etc.
Motorized Pasta Makers: work very similar to bread machines. You simply pour the ingredients into the holding area of the pasta machine and it does the rest. It will effortlessly mix and knead the ingredients into a workable dough and then add the desired disc and watch the pasta take shape. Many attachments can be used for all type of flat pasta (spaghetti, lasagna, fettuccine etc), cylinder pasta (penne) and biscotti shaping disc because we can not forget about Italian desserts!
Pasta Drying Racks
Once the fresh pasta has been formed and cut, it needs to rest on a pasta drying rack. This takes approximately 1 hour and allows the pasta to be stored for later use. Fresh made pasta that has been dried and stored in a refrigerator will last approximately 3 days and frozen will last 3 months. Not to worry, once you taste fresh homemade pasta it will disappear before you know it!
As you can see there are many variations to spaghetti recipe not only for preparing the pasta, pasta sauce but also making homemade pasta.