The world's greatest pasta dishes

From silky Parmigiano-laden tortellini to exploding truffle ravioli, these are the pasta dishes worth travelling for.

In A Brief History of Pasta, Luca Cesari dismantles the modern myth that Marco Polo imported noodles from China, and instead reveals more cross-cultural origins, tracing a thread from ancient Greece and the Near East through medieval Arab influences in Sicily. He highlights the surprising fluidity of its evolution – demonstrating the relative novelty of the (thankfully) now canonical al dente ideal. For centuries, pasta was boiled down soft, served as a side dish to meat like in France today, or even paired with sugar and spices.

Maybe pasta should be considered just another noodle, but as it developed across Italy – from the Dolomites near the Austrian border southward to the boot's heel – it emerged as its own cultural phenomenon with specific flavour combinations. But today, its identity has become harder to define. The best pasta dishes are a mix of traditional and avant-garde, found both in trattorias and fine dining restaurants. Nor are Italians the only ones getting in on the act. Pasta's global rise means you'll find mind-blowing creations in cities far beyond the borders of Italy. Here are ten of the best.

Tortellini del "Tortellante" in Crema di Parmigiano Reggiano
Franceschetta58, Modena


The hand-folded tortellini are filled with an all-star cast of 24-month Parmigiano Reggiano, 24-month Modena ham, veal, pork, sausage and bone marrow, then bathed in a silky 30-month Parmigiano Reggiano crema that borders on ecstasy-inducing. The pasta itself is a collaboration with Il Tortellante – a workshop, also co-owned by Massimo Bottura, that teaches young people with autism to hand-make the region's traditional pasta.

Tagliatelle al Burro
Trattoria Trippa, Milan

You don't become Italy's leading neo-trattoria without doing pasta well. Diego Rossi masters the craft of deceptive simplicity here: luminous, golden-yellow ribbons of tagliatelle are glossed in an umami-packed emulsion of high-fat surface-skimmed butter (burro d'affioramento), 24-month Parmigiano Reggiano and a concentrated chicken broth reduction (ristretto di brodo di pollo).

Octopus and Bone Marrow Fusilli
Marea, New York


A signature of Marea since its 2009 opening, this dish was created as an expression of the restaurant's coastal Italian identity and a deliberately provocative play on surf and turf. The pasta's spiralled shape was chosen for its ability to delicately capture each drop of sauce. The captivating taste melds unctuous roasted bone marrow with briny, tender octopus, braised in red wine, tomatoes and aromatics, all tied together by the crunch of seasoned breadcrumbs.

Pansoti with Salsa di Noci
Dalla, London


London is home to an outsize Italian expat community and food scene. Ask any chef who is the best pastaiolo in the city, and they'll likely point to Mitchell Damota. You're also more likely to find obscure, hyper-regional cooking here than in any major Italian metropolis – consider Dalla's pansoti, a springtime staple at the restaurant. The Ligurian egg-and-white-wine pasta dough is filled with a forager-sourced mix of a dozen-plus wild herbs and plants, bound with ricotta and Parmigiano, then dressed in salsa di noci, the classic walnut-and-bread sauce, which Damota seasons with pine nuts, hazelnuts, Parmigiano and pecorino sardo. 

Tagliatelle with Butter, Anchovies, Hops and Blueberries
Uliassi, Senigallia


Maverick chef Mauro Uliassi pushes the boundaries of Italian flavour further than most. The dish starts with the classic pairing of butter and anchovies, where richness meets deep marine umami, then builds in layers. After the pasta is tossed in a base of oil and reduced anchovies, hop infusion adds floral notes, punctuated by crumbled freeze-dried blueberries for crunch and bright acidity. Knobs of cold butter studded with anchovy – a nod to Uliassi's childhood memories of his mother's plain pasta and butter pieces that never quite melted – along with earthy freeze-dried black truffle, finish the dish with mesmerising complexity.

Black Truffle Explosion
Alinea, Chicago


Chef Grant Achatz's iconic modernist triumph began as an idea for an 'exploding ravioli' that he conceived while cooking at The French Laundry. It first appeared in 2001 at Trio, then landed on Alinea's opening menu in 2005. A scratch-made 00 flour ravioli encapsulates a liquid sphere of black truffle juice, butter and truffle oil, first set with gelatin, then simmered and finished in beurre monté, then topped with a slice of black truffle, wilted romaine and parmesan. Biting into it sets off a cascading burst of warm, intensely aromatic truffle-butter broth. 

Potato Spaghetti 
Faro, Tokyo

Chef Kotaro Noda transforms the humble potato – usually destined for gnocchi – into fine, spaghetti-like strands. The tendrils of potato pasta are topped with an intense Italian fish sauce, then bound and enriched with a velvety, cultured Japanese-made butter that ramps up the indulgence factor and bridges two distinct culinary worlds.

The Crunchy Part of the Lasagne
Osteria Francescana, Modena

(Image: Marco Poderi)

Massimo Bottura's playful, deconstructed ode to Sunday family lunches isolates the coveted crispy corner of the lasagne. Instead of a standard slice, it's a featherlight, wafer-like chip capturing the dish's iconic colours – egg-yellow pasta, red tomato and vibrant spinach green from puréed spaghetti blended with spinach juice – layered, dried, and deep-fried until it puffs and shatters like a crisp instead of yielding like a noodle. It encases an intensely rich meat ragu, and is finished with a cloud-like béchamel foam of 30-month Parmigiano Reggiano.

Ravioli Solar
Nelita, São Paulo

(Image: Estúdio Mió)

Chef Tássia Magalhães designed ravioli with geometric proportions to evoke the sun. Served beneath a cloche, the four pastas are stuffed with sweet, bursting tomatoes. At the table, a clarified, textured chicken broth infused with ginger oil is poured over the dish, before it's finished with a decadent foie gras ganache.

Cecamariti Pasta with Cultured Butter and Black Pepper
Rolf and Daughters, Nashville

Cecamariti – a traditional southern Italian pasta shape whose name translates playfully to "husband-blinders" – is here turned into a minimalist masterpiece using local ingredients. The hand-rolled, chewy pasta is tossed in a creamy, heavy black truffle cultured butter sauce with sharp black pepper. The tang of the sauce is reminiscent of plain Yakult, surprising guests with its deeply savoury flavour.

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