5 pasta cooking rules that are worth breaking

1. No cheese with fish

One classic Italian rule states that cheese and seafood should never be combined, as cheese is thought to overpower the delicate flavour of fish. You might be used to ordering a seafood pasta in an Italian restaurant and being the only one at the table to not get the lovely offer of parmesan grated over the top! But when used thoughtfully, cheese can enhance a seafood dish rather than mask it. And if you love the flavour – who’s to stop you?

We’re not necessarily suggesting you cover your next clam vongole with a thick layer of grated Red Leicester. But there are exceptions where this works. Our brown crab and garlic spaghetti becomes extra luxurious thanks to parmesan emulsifying with the pasta water into a silky sauce, whilst this crab macaroni cheese has a rich mature cheddar sauce. Or throw all tradition out the window and embrace something different with this griddled courgette and seafood lasagne – replacing pasta sheets with courgette and topped with crispy cheesy breadcrumbs.

2. No cream or garlic in a carbonara

Traditional carbonara is made with just eggs, cheese, guanciale and pepper. The results may look and taste decadently creamy, but this traditionally comes simply from the egg yolks emulsifying with the cheese and starchy pasta. Purists will insist anything else is sacrilege. No cream, no garlic, no other rogue ingredients you might be tempted to add in from the back of your fridge. But here at Good Food, we like to get a little creative with our carbonaras...

We're not averse to adding crushed garlic for an extra boost of flavour and our roasted cauliflower and hazelnut carbonara has a stealthy splash of cream to give extra richness. We've also made versions of carbonara swapping out the classic guanciale: try our chorizo and purple sprouting broccoli carbonara (with some sacrilegious garlic) or sausage and broccoli carbonara. It may not be textbook Roman, but it’s undeniably tasty.

Check out our 10 twists on spaghetti carbonara for some more decidedly unorthodox interpretations.

Chorizo and purple sprouting broccoli carbonara in a large blue dish

3. Spaghetti with Bolognese

Did you know spaghetti bolognese is not served in Italy? In Italy, Bolognese sauce is traditionally served with tagliatelle or another wide, flat pasta. It's believed that these shapes can best hold the meaty ragu with an even coating without the meat and soffrito falling off. Spaghetti is considered too thin and slippery to do the job properly. Plus, it's a dried pasta, and in Bologna, fresh pasta like tagliatelle is more common.

But don't despair if spaghetti is all you've got in the cupboard. Spag bol is now a British classic! The thinner strands offer a satisfying slurp and are perfect for quick midweek meals. Our next level spaghetti Bolognese recipe is a prime example of how this 'rule-breaking' pairing can deliver every time, with a few more unorthodox tweaks thrown into the method too...

Check out our 10 twists on spaghetti bolognese for more ways to mix up this family favourite even further, from veggie and vegan versions to a hands-off slow cooker method.

Pan of spaghetti bolognese topped with basil

4. Don’t cook pasta in your sauce

One-pot pastas have been going viral on social for a few years now, usually reliably horrifying traditional Italian cooks every time. Classically, pasta is boiled in plenty of heavily salted water until perfectly cooked, then drained and combined with your sauce of choice before serving, perhaps with a splash of pasta water to help everything emulsify. But this doesn't have to be the only way...

One-pot pasta recipes defy convention by cooking the pasta directly in the sauce, allowing the starch released during cooking to naturally thicken the dish and infuse the pasta with flavour. Plus, it also saves on washing up and time for extra midweek wins. Even Meghan Markle recently got in on the act, including a one-pot pasta recipe in her Netflix series.

This one-pot creamy nduja pasta combines mafalda pasta, stock, nduja and mascarpone in a single pan for rich, silky results. Continue the rulebreaking with a fusion one-pot cheeseburger pasta recipe: you won't see it on any trattoria menus any time soon, but it's the ultimate Friday night treat with crispy beef, melting cheese and tangy pickles. One-pot pastas: guaranteed to cause chaos in the comments and comfort on the sofa.

Pan of mafalda pasta strands in creamy nduja sauce — One pot creamy nduja pasta

5. Pasta should always be al dente

Cooking pasta al dente – meaning 'to the tooth' – is a cornerstone of Italian pasta preparation. Most of the time this is exactly the balance you want to strike: achieving pasta that is not too hard and chalky, but not reduced to mush either. However, there are times when softer pasta just works better.

In dishes like lasagne soup, the pasta is simmered in the tomato sauce, absorbing all the flavour and softening to a comforting texture. Make this pea and pasta frittata if you ever have leftover pasta. The pasta gets a second cook in the oven, with mint and peas to keep it tasting fresh and a crispy cheesy top.