Top 3 Traditional Pasta
in the Metropolitan City of Venice

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Bigoli in salsa is a pasta dish from Venice, consisting of thick, whole wheat noodles tossed in a savory, umami-rich sauce made from slowly cooked onions and dissolved anchovies. It is one of the city's emblematic dishes, although beloved variations can be found throughout the Veneto region. The dish relies on the unique qualities of bigoli, a traditional Venetian pasta that is a bit thicker than spaghetti. Made with whole-wheat flour, it has a distinctly nutty flavor that pairs perfectly with the bold taste of anchovies. The magic of bigoli lies in its rough texture, which allows the sauce to be absorbed much more easily. This texture is achieved by forcing the dense dough through a special hand-cranked bronze press called a bigolaro, which dates back to 1604. The sauce itself is a masterclass in culinary minimalism, where thinly sliced onions are sweated down slowly in high-quality olive oil until meltingly soft, before the anchovies—or sometimes traditional, sharp-tasting salt-cured sardines known as sarde—are added. With gentle heat, the fish completely dissolves into the onions, often emulsified with a splash of dry white wine or starchy pasta water to create a creamy paste that coats every rough strand without a drop of dairy. Every local seems to have their own way of making the dish, and some cooks also add pine nuts and raisins to the sauce. This sweet, sour, and salty flavor profile serves as a culinary nod to the Venetian period of the Renaissance, an era when the Venetian Republic controlled the spice trade, and exotic ingredients like raisins and pine nuts first reached Venice's ports. Historically, Bigoli in salsa originated as a religious necessity and was originally consumed as a lean, meatless meal on fasting days such as Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, or Christmas Eve. Over the years, it evolved into a dish best consumed the night before a big feast; the combination of dense wheat pasta and rich olive oil is substantial and highly satisfying, yet light enough to leave some room for the heavy, meat-laden feasts of the following day. To cut through the fish's saltiness and the oil's richness, locals often pair it with a crisp, high-acid white wine native to the Veneto region, such as a chilled Soave or Garganega.Expand

Spaghetti alla busara is a traditional dish originating from Venice and the surrounding area. The dish is usually made with a combination of scampi (langoustines or large prawns), spaghetti, olive oil, tomatoes, garlic, parsley, white wine, salt, and pepper. The garlic is sautéed in olive oil and removed from the pan. The scampi are added to the pan, seasoned with salt and pepper, and covered with white wine. The mixture is cooked until the alcohol evaporates and the dish is completed by adding chopped tomatoes and lowering the heat until the sauce thickens. The spaghetti are cooked until al dente, sautéed briefly in the sauce, and the dish is then garnished with chopped parsley before serving. It is believed that fresh langoustines from the nearby Croatian port city of Rijeka arrived to Venice daily and that the busara (buzara) sauce inspired Venetian cooks because there is a Croatian dish called scampi buzara that's the same as this one, but without the addition of spaghetti.Expand

Bigoli in cassopipa is a traditional dish originating from Veneto, or more precisely Chioggia, a fishing port at the entrance to the lagoon. The dish is usually made with a combination of bigoli pasta, squid, mollusks and shellfish (mussels, clams, cockles), tomatoes, garlic, onions, carrots, celery, white wine, olive oil, salt, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, bay leaves, thyme, and parsley. The squid, mollusks, and shellfish are sautéed in olive oil with the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and spices. White wine is added to the mix, and everything is simmered together until the sauce becomes syrupy. The pasta is cooked, drained, and dressed with the sauce, a tablespoon of tomato passata per person, a drizzle of olive oil, and chopped parsley before serving. The word cassopipa in the name of the dish is derived from pipare, meaning to simmer. Expand