Italian recipes for pasta have existed for a very long time, even if many of the ingredients have changed over the centuries. It’s interesting to think that what people consider the two most essential ingredients of these dishes, namely the tomatoes and the pasta itself, may actually have come to Italy from elsewhere.
Certainly, tomatoes did not originate in Italy. Yet there’s no doubt that in everything, from complex to simple Italian dishes, the cooks of Italy have made every ingredient distinctly their own.
Two websites illustrate in detail the connection of Italian recipes with the different regions of the country. The E Rcps website (http://www.e-rcps.com/pasta/inf/regions.shtml) posts a “Chicken Stuffed Ravioli with Cream and Butter Sauce” recipe as an example of northern cuisine, from the region of Emilia-Romagna.
The Italian Made website (http://www.italianmade.com/regions/home.cfm), meanwhile, has “Perciatelli e Lumache” as an example from the southern Calabrian region; this recipe features pasta tubes and snails in a tomato pepper sauce. From complex to simple Italian dishes, the regional variations still usually hold true.
It’s hard to imagine Italian recipes without tomatoes, but it’s true that when they were first introduced in Europe, it took a long time until people felt safe eating them. How times have changed! Now you can rarely find Italian made sauces that don’t feature this vegetable.
Yet long before it made its first appearance, the foods of Italy were already distinct and had their own special characteristics. And those still exist today, even if the tomato has been added to the traditions.
To read more Italian Recipes For Pasta Dishes
