Spaghetti are Italy's best known kind of pasta, and you'll encounter them everywhere. They're also one of the oldest pasta shapes; there are records of their being made in Naples in the 1300s, and they may have been one of the driving forces behind the adoption of the fork, even though I have seen many 19th century photos of Neapolitan urchins (and adults too) eating spaghetti by the handful out in the street, usually by a vendor's cart or stand. These may have been "local color shots," but local color often does have a basis in fact.
In any case, commercially prepared spaghetti are about 10 inches (25 cm) long, a little less than 1/16 of an inch (1.5 mm) thick, and cook in 8 minutes or so. You can also find artisan pasta, in which the strands are much longer, up to a yard or more, and are often u-shaped because they were hung over a pole to dry. If you happen across them they can be very good.
In terms of sauce, spaghetti go well with just about everything, and are especially good with liquid sauces.
Substitutions: Spaghettini, maccheroni alla chitarra, linguine, and perhaps tagliatelle or fettuccine.
You will find many recipes for them on site, and here's another: Spaghetti with fresh tomatoes and anchovies. To serve 4:
Drain the pasta, stir the sauce into it, stir in the mozzarella, dust everything with the parsley or basil, and serve.
More About Pasta Shapes
In any case, commercially prepared spaghetti are about 10 inches (25 cm) long, a little less than 1/16 of an inch (1.5 mm) thick, and cook in 8 minutes or so. You can also find artisan pasta, in which the strands are much longer, up to a yard or more, and are often u-shaped because they were hung over a pole to dry. If you happen across them they can be very good.
In terms of sauce, spaghetti go well with just about everything, and are especially good with liquid sauces.
Substitutions: Spaghettini, maccheroni alla chitarra, linguine, and perhaps tagliatelle or fettuccine.
You will find many recipes for them on site, and here's another: Spaghetti with fresh tomatoes and anchovies. To serve 4:
- 14 ounces (350 g) spaghetti
- 6 plum tomatoes, blanched, peeled, seeded and chopped
- 2 anchovy filets of the kind that's packed in oil, rinsed, boned, and minced
- 1/2 an onion, finely diced
- A pinch of dried or (better) a sprig of fresh oregano, minced
- 1 teaspoon of the oil the anchovies were packed in
- 1/4 pound mozzarella, diced
- Olive oil
- 1 tablespoon minced parsley or basil, or a mixture of the two
Drain the pasta, stir the sauce into it, stir in the mozzarella, dust everything with the parsley or basil, and serve.
More About Pasta Shapes