This National Pasta Day, elevate a classic recipe and cozy up with a craveworthy bowl of pasta.
"Good Morning America" enlisted the expertise of chefs Anthony Vitolo, Alex Guarnaschelli and Giorgio Rapicavoli to create a classic pasta dish with a twist.
Check out their full recipes below.
Vitolo, the executive chef and owner of Emilio's Ballato, shared his recipe that can be made with a variety of tube-shaped pastas like penne, rigatoni or paccheri.
Serves: 4-5 people
Ingredients
16 ounces penne rigate, rigatoni or paccheri
2 cans (28 ounces each) Italian peeled San Marzano tomatoes
2 ounces tomato paste
6 ounces heavy cream
4 ounces butter
6 ounces sweet Italian sausage, removed from casing
2 ounces sweet peas
2 ounces extra-virgin olive oil
1 bunch fresh basil
1 large shallot, chopped
2 ounces pecorino Romano cheese
2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
4 ounces vodka
Directions
Cook the sausage: Heat olive oil in a large skillet or saucepan over medium heat. Add the sausage (removed from casing) and cook until browned, breaking it up with a spoon. Render out the fat for extra flavor.
Add shallots: Once the sausage is nearly cooked through, add the chopped shallot and cook until softened and fragrant
Deglaze with vodka: Carefully add the vodka to the pan, allowing the alcohol to cook off completely to avoid bitterness.
Build the sauce: Stir in the tomato paste, then add the San Marzano tomatoes, crushing them gently with a spoon. Simmer for about 15-20 minutes until slightly thickened.
Finish with cream and butter: Lower the heat and add heavy cream and butter, stirring until smooth. Fold in the sweet peas and a few torn basil leaves. Season with salt and pepper to taste. You can also add cheese.
Cook the pasta: In a separate pot, cook pasta in salted boiling water. Remove it 2-3 minutes before the package time for a perfect al dente texture. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water.
Combine and finish: Add the pasta directly to the sauce and toss to coat, adding splashes of pasta water as needed to loosen. Stir in grated pecorino Romano and Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Serve: Plate immediately, garnish with more cheese and basil, and enjoy!
Chef Vitolo's pro tips
Cook off the vodka: Always let the alcohol burn off, or the sauce will taste bitter.
Render the sausage first to release the fat. This builds flavor throughout the sauce. Cook the chopped shallots together with the sausage for even more depth.
Reserve pasta water: A splash helps loosen the sauce if it becomes too thick.
Cook pasta al dente: Whatever the box says, pull it 2-3 minutes early and finish cooking it directly in the sauce for the best texture and flavor.
Grate your cheese finely so that it doesn't clump in your pasta when adding to the sauce. We want a creamy, smooth consistency.
Make extra sauce! This vodka sauce doubles beautifully as a base for other dishes, like a rich ragu for lasagna.
Food Network star Guarnaschelli shared this hearty, high-protein dish that she said was once the food of coal miners, but adds a touch of crispy proscuitto on top.
"It's the bacon and eggs of the Italian pasta world," she said. "It's creamy but there's no cream. It has a lot of protein."
"This is the classic version. I have to imagine coal miners didn't likely have that many ingredients lying around the mines. Definitely use the starchy pasta water with the yolks and the flavors of pancetta and cheese to get to a seriously tasty place."
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15-20 minutes (mostly inactive)
Yield: 4-6 servings
Ingredients
6 ounces pancetta, finely diced
2 slices of prosciutto (fried)
Kosher salt
1 pound dry spaghetti
1 large egg, plus 3 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
1 cup finely grated Pecorino cheese
Freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
Small bunch of sage leaves
Directions
Cook the pancetta: In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the pancetta until crispy and browned, 3-5 minutes. Drain the pancetta and transfer it to a large serving bowl. Reserve the grease.
Cook the pasta: In a large pot, bring the water to a rolling boil. Add 2 tablespoons salt. Bring the water back up to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook for 5-8 minutes. Stir the pasta with a slotted spoon to make sure it does not clump or stick to the bottom as it cooks. In a large colander, drain the pasta. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid in case you need it to adjust the flavors of your sauce.
Serve: Add the egg and yolks and a generous sprinkle of the cheese to the bowl with the Pancetta and some of the cooking grease. Add the pasta with a splash of the cooking water and stir and mix vigorously. The goal is to have both the eggs and cheese link up to coat the pasta. The pasta water is the connector. If too thick, loosen with more pasta water. Keep in mind, the pasta will be a little loose and the sauce will thicken as the pasta cools for just a few minutes. Season with pepper and stir in the vinegar, fried prosciutto, and sage leaves. Taste for seasoning. Top with remaining cheese.
Pasta sauce takeaway tips
Sometimes a creamy texture can be done without cream. Use a combination of eggs and pasta water, whisked vigorously, to create the illusion of cream with egg protein and lighter results.
When mixing eggs and pasta water, eggs are best room temperature and pasta water slightly cooled. Combining the eggs and water at a similar temperature will make for a smoother sauce emulsion. Cold eggs whisked with boiling pasta water will result in a grainy sauce. Room temperature eggs and slightly cooled pasta water will make a better sauce.
Combine all the sauce ingredients into a serving bowl. Be ready with a colander so you can just drain, toss and serve.
Grate from a whole block of cheese when possible. It's better quality and keeps fresher longer.
If the sauce is a little thin, add a splash of cream when no one is looking.
Make sure you cook your pasta "al dente" and let the sauce and pasta, once combined, "rest" for a couple of minutes before serving.
Pecorino is cheaper than Parmigiano-Reggiano for grating cheese and equally salty and tasty. Use them interchangeably for this pasta recipe.
Rapicavoli, the owner and chef of Mayfair Grill in Miami, shared this spicy riff on a classic herb-centric pasta dish.
Ingredients
1 box gemelli pasta
2 cups fresh green basil
1/4 cup cashews
1-2 garlic cloves
2 jalapeños, seeds and veins removed
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 1/4 cups extra-virgin olive oil
Directions
In a food processor, combine the cashews, basil, garlic, jalapeños and sea salt, and pulse the mixture until it forms a paste.
Add the Parmigiano-Reggiano and continue to blend, then slowly drizzle in the extra-virgin olive oil until the pesto reaches your desired consistency.
Store the pesto in a jar topped with a thin layer of olive oil until ready to use, or freeze in an air tight container.
If using sauce immediately: Serve tossed with cooked, al dente gemelli pasta.
Pasta sauce tips
You can incorporate any nut you'd like, it doesn't always have to be pine nuts.
You can leave the seeds in the jalapeño if you want a spicy kick.
Pesto isn't just for pasta, it's incredible with olive oil fried eggs and toast.
You can also freeze the sauce in an ice cube tray to have small portions of pesto ready to use.
An Argentine trick is to combine pesto into your tomato sauce for a new twist on both sauces.
By clicking on these shopping links, visitors will leave ABCNews.com and Goodmorningamerica.com, and these e-commerce sites are operated under different terms and privacy policies. ABC will receive a commission for purchases made through these links. SOME PRICES ARE DYNAMIC AND MAY CHANGE FROM THE DATE OF PUBLICATION. Have questions about ordering or a purchase? Click here.
