Tomato Sauces

• Besides the traditional meat sauce served with spaghetti and meatballs, other well-known tomato sauces for pasta include puttanesca, Bolognese, ragu, fra diavolo and arrabbiata. Of these, Bolognese and ragu require meat in the creation. Other typical ingredients are garlic, basil, onion, olive oil, Parmesan and parsley.

Cream Sauces

• Cream pasta sauces usually incorporate cheese and milk/cream as a foundation. Alfredo is the most popular and includes Parmesan cheese, butter and cream. Other sauces of this variety are four-cheese sauce or cacio e pepe, which relies heavily on pecorino cheese.

Carbonara

• Carbonara is a famous Italian pasta dish with a few simple ingredients in addition to the pasta. The list includes eggs, Parmesan, pecorino and garlic for the sauce, and pancetta to top (sometimes pancetta grease is in the sauce, too). Cooks serve carbonara over spaghetti or fettuccine.

Seafood Dishes

• Seafood pasta dishes often use light wine-based sauces. For example, chefs frequently serve linguine con vongole (clams) with a white wine sauce, usually a little lemon juice, butter, pepper, garlic and white wine, reduced over medium heat.

Pesto

• Pesto consists of basil, garlic, salt, pine nuts, Parmesan and olive oil. Basil lends the pesto its famous green appearance. Cooks often serve pesto with gnocchi, which are like mini potato dumplings.