A growing library of Italy's authentic pasta sauces

Benvenuto in cucina

Every Italian sauce — where it comes from, what goes in it, and why it matters. There is a whole story behind every dish, and it tastes better when you know it. Made with love. Served correctly.

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today's sauce
26
oil-basedVegetarian

Sugo di Noci

Liguria

Liguria's walnut pesto. Walnuts, stale bread soaked in milk, garlic, Parmigiano — served cold, in a mortar. The method is the same. The result is earthier, heavier, and suited to the hills rather than the coast.

WalnutsGarlicMilk
Sauce of the dayRead more about Sugo di Noci
All sauces

The complete collection

01
vegetable-basedVegetarian

Alla Norma

Sicilia

The Sicilian pasta that carries a name from opera. Fried aubergine, sweet tomato, ricotta salata, basil — four components that only work when each one is done correctly.

Olive OilAubergineGarlic
Read more about Alla Norma
02
tomato-basedVegetarian

Marinara

Campania

A Neapolitan sauce with no pretensions. Tomato, garlic, oil, basil, oregano — done in the time it takes to boil the pasta. Simplicity is not the same as easy.

Olive OilGarlicTomatoes
Read more about Marinara
03
meat-based

Ragù alla Bolognese

Emilia-Romagna

A slow-cooked, complex meat sauce. It is not a 'meat-flavoured tomato sauce'—it is a meat sauce that happens to have a little tomato.

SoffrittoGround MeatWine
Read more about Ragù alla Bolognese
04
egg-basedno cream!

Carbonara

Lazio

A Roman dish built on patience and restraint. The richness you taste is not cream — it is the alchemy of egg yolk, aged cheese, and the water your pasta cooked in.

GuancialeBlack PepperEgg yolk
Read more about Carbonara
05
oil-basedVegetarian

Aglio e Olio

Lazio

Rome distilled to four ingredients. The result depends entirely on how you treat the garlic.

Olive OilGarlicChili Pepper
Read more about Aglio e Olio
06
cheese-basedVegetarian

Cacio e Pepe

Lazio

Beyond simplicity lies complexity. Cheese and pepper. That is all. Yet the three-minute emulsification required to build this sauce separates the masters from the novices.

Black PepperPecorino
Read more about Cacio e Pepe
07
butter-basedVegetarian

Burro e Parmigiano (Alfredo)

Lazio

A silken emulsion of butter, Parmigiano Reggiano, and pasta water. Roman simplicity at its peak—no cream, only technique. The sauce emerges when cold butter meets hot pasta and starchy water.

ButterParmigianoBlack Pepper
Read more about Burro e Parmigiano (Alfredo)
08
oil-based

Alle Vongole

Campania

The sea served on pasta. Clams, white wine, garlic, parsley — nothing added, nothing covered up.

Olive OilGarlicChili Pepper
Read more about Alle Vongole
09
tomato-based

Amatriciana

Lazio

A bold, rustic sauce from the mountain town of Amatrice. It is the evolution of Gricia, adding tomato to the holy trinity of guanciale, pecorino, and pepper.

GuancialeChili PepperTomatoes
Read more about Amatriciana
10
oil-basedVegetarian

Pesto alla Genovese

Liguria

A vibrant, aromatic cold sauce that captures the essence of the Ligurian coast. It is a pound-by-pound masterpiece of basil, nuts, and cheese.

BasilPine NutsParmigiano
Read more about Pesto alla Genovese
11
tomato-based

Puttanesca

Campania

A bold, pungent sauce of Neapolitan street food. Built on tomatoes, olives, capers, and anchovies — complex, salty, assertive, and unapologetic.

AnchoviesTomatoesCapers
Read more about Puttanesca
12
vegetable-based

Vignarola

Lazio

A springtime celebration of Rome's finest vegetables—fava beans, peas, and artichokes tossed with guanciale and Pecorino Romano. Light, seasonal, and deeply Roman.

GuancialeArtichokesFava Beans
Read more about Vignarola
13
meat-based

Papalina

Lazio

A creamy Roman sauce of peas, heavy cream, and either prosciutto or guanciale. It is a richer cousin to Peas and Bacon, with papal grandeur in its name.

ProsciuttoPeasCream
Read more about Papalina
14
meat-based

Zozzona

Lazio

A rustic, hearty Roman pasta of tomatoes, pancetta, and a hint of cream. The name comes from the Roman dialect word 'zozz,' meaning dirty, simple man—it's a working person's dish.

OnionPancettaTomatoes
Read more about Zozzona
15
cheese-based

Gricia

Lazio

The ancestor of Carbonara. Guanciale, Pecorino, and black pepper without the egg—a dish of pure Roman clarity, celebrated for its restraint.

GuancialeBlack PepperPecorino
Read more about Gricia
16
tomato-basedVegetarian

Arrabiata

Lazio

The angry sauce. Four ingredients, one rule: enough chili to matter.

Olive OilGarlicChili Pepper
Read more about Arrabiata
17
vegetable-basedVegetarian

Funghi Porcini

Emilia-Romagna

Porcini carry more flavour than most meats. In autumn, they need very little help.

Olive OilButterGarlic
Read more about Funghi Porcini
18
oil-based

Pasta con le Sarde

Sicilia

A Sicilian sauce that refuses to be categorised. Fresh sardines, wild fennel, raisins, pine nuts, saffron — the combination reads like an inventory of the Arab traders who shaped the island's food. The sweet and the savoury are not in tension here. That is the point.

Olive OilOnionAnchovies
Read more about Pasta con le Sarde
19
meat-based

La Genovese

Campania

A Neapolitan ragù built on time and onions. The beef is there, but the onions are the sauce — slow-cooked until they collapse entirely into something sweet, dark, and unlike anything else in Campania.

Olive OilOnionBeef
Read more about La Genovese
21
meat-based

Al Cinghiale

Toscana

Wild boar from the Tuscan hills, cooked long in red wine. The result is a ragù of considerable weight — dark, gamey, and entirely of its landscape.

CinghialeOlive OilSoffritto
Read more about Al Cinghiale
22
butter-basedVegetarian

Al Tartufo Nero

Umbria

The Umbrian answer to the question of what to do with the most valuable thing in your kitchen. Almost nothing else. The truffle is the dish, and everything around it is designed to get out of the way.

ButterGarlicTartufo
Read more about Al Tartufo Nero
23
tomato-based

Con la 'Nduja

Calabria

'Nduja from Spilinga melts directly into the pan. The fat runs orange, the chili is absolute, and the tomato is there to carry it — not to contain it.

Olive OilGarlic'Nduja
Read more about Con la 'Nduja
24
meat-based

Pasta alla Romana

Lazio

A Roman sauce of prosciutto cotto and peas in a light tomato base. No guanciale, no egg, no pecorino — this is the weeknight corner of the Roman kitchen.

Olive OilOnionProsciutto
Read more about Pasta alla Romana
25
egg-basedVegetarian

Cacio e Uova

Lazio

A shepherd's sauce from the Lazio mountains — the simplest possible emulsion of pecorino, egg, and pasta water. It is the ancestor of Carbonara in its most stripped-down form, and it predates the guanciale by centuries.

Egg yolkPecorinoBlack Pepper
Read more about Cacio e Uova
26
oil-basedVegetarian

Sugo di Noci

Liguria

Liguria's walnut pesto. Walnuts, stale bread soaked in milk, garlic, Parmigiano — served cold, in a mortar. The method is the same. The result is earthier, heavier, and suited to the hills rather than the coast.

WalnutsGarlicMilk
Read more about Sugo di Noci
27
vegetable-basedVegetarian

Boscaiola

Toscana

Porcini, cream, and herbs. A Tuscan forest sauce — the name means woodman-style. The porcini are the whole story here.

ButterGarlicPorcini
Read more about Boscaiola
28
cheese-basedVegetarian

Olio e Parmigiano

Emilia-Romagna

Pasta with olive oil and Parmigiano Reggiano. This is not a recipe — it is an assembly. The entire dish depends on two ingredients of the highest possible quality, and a technique that consists entirely of knowing when to stop.

Olive OilParmigianoBlack Pepper
Read more about Olio e Parmigiano
29
fish-based

Colatura di Alici

Campania

Colatura from Cetara — the direct descendant of Roman garum. Added raw at the end. The anchovy does all the work.

Olive OilGarlicColatura
Read more about Colatura di Alici
30
oil-basedVegetarian

Alla Carrettiera

Campania

Garlic, chili, parsley, and oil — with cherry tomatoes to distinguish it from aglio e olio. A cart-driver's sauce from Campania, designed to be made on the road.

Olive OilGarlicChili Pepper
Read more about Alla Carrettiera
31
fish-based

Ai Ricci di Mare

Sicilia

Sea urchin roe, olive oil, and garlic. The roe is not cooked — it is warmed through by the pasta. The finest expression of the Italian coast, and the simplest.

Olive OilGarlicRicci di Mare
Read more about Ai Ricci di Mare
32
cheese-basedVegetarian

Al Bava

Piemonte

Butter, fontina, and egg — a Piemontese cheese sauce that forms long, stringy threads. The name means drool, and that is exactly what it does.

ButterFontinaEgg yolk
Read more about Al Bava
33
butter-basedVegetarian

Al Limone

Campania

Butter, lemon, and Parmigiano. From the Amalfi Coast, where the lemons are so fragrant they define the landscape. Three ingredients, and every one of them must be excellent.

ButterLemonParmigiano
Read more about Al Limone
34
tomato-basedVegetarian

Penne alla Vodka

Lazio

Tomato, cream, and vodka. The alcohol is not a gimmick — it releases flavour compounds from the tomato that water and oil cannot reach. A 1970s classic, still misunderstood.

Olive OilOnionGarlic
Read more about Penne alla Vodka
Italy, region by region

Find sauce by region

Every region has its own traditions and every pasta sauce has a home. Knowing where it comes from makes it taste better