Perusing for pasta; 9 pasta dishes that are sure to warm up your taste buds this winter
Pasta is one of those dishes that can translate across all ages and all taste buds. And with so many different types (each with their own special purpose), there’re countless ways it can be prepared. In this feature, I try to span as far and wide as possible and make you as excited to try each one as I was to taste. Yes, I dove into each dish and yes, I finished every one of them. You want quality control, right?
Dish: Mushroom Ravioli
Place: Sapori Italian Kitchen (Stateline)
Straight from the kitchen of the Carano family, this dish is a showstopper – especially for you mushroom lovers – and one of the best-selling at the restaurant. With a lineage like that, how doesn’t this dish make its way to your bucket list?
The whole egg pasta used in this dish was developed in the Eldorado Resort Casino pasta room back in the 80s. Once it’s rolled out and cut, the raviolis are stuffed with a trio of mushrooms (porcini, cremini and oyster) along with some secret ingredients that I am, unfortunately, not family enough to know, or share with you.
The raviolis are tossed in an amazing cream sauce that is accented with a little porcini powder and fresh thyme then topped with roasted wild mushrooms (cremini and oyster) before the shaved garnish of Parmesan Reggiano is added.
The synchronization in flavor with the earthy and rich mushrooms partnering with the light and creamy sauce is what makes this dish magic and one of my favorite ravioli dishes ever. Yes, ever.
The dish eats light, so you won’t be leaving the table feeling overwhelmed, which is direct result of the balance of ingredients. Speaking of ingredients, whatever those secret ones are, they sure do pull their weight.
Dish: Linguine all’ Aragosta
Place: Osteria Sierra (Incline Village)
Like many of the other dishes on this list, the linguine in this recipe is made in house at Osteria Sierra (as are all their other pastas) but when this plate hits your table, you know that it’s not like any other pasta dish.
It’s cooked al dente and bathed in a saffron velouté giving you a creamy and fragrant sauce that is perfectly delicate to compliment the cold-water lobster tail. The lobster is rolled out with olive oil and lemon before getting poached and placed on the plate with a topping of fresh herbs (tarragon and parsley). The crowning of the dish comes in the form of a squid ink coral (lacy and crispy garnish) for a stunning presentation.
The saffron flavor is up front and personal and because it is steeped in the velouté, it makes for a gorgeous golden-orange color. The fresh herbs add a pop of freshness and while there are many layers to this dish, it manages to stay light and let the lobster flavor shine.
The best way to get everything together is to break up the coral piece and let it mix with the pasta, sauce and seafood to add a briny and savory punctuation. However you want to eat this dish, I’m sure if you’re a seafood fan, you’re going to love it.
Dish: Rigatoni with Vodka Sauce
Place: Primo’s (South Lake Tahoe)
If you go down the rabbit hole of the origins of vodka sauce, it’s one that is hotly contested as to exactly where it was born. But if you don’t care about its history, and you just want an amazing representation, then this is the dish.
Before getting into the sauce, let’s start with the pasta. It’s handmade and very straightforward using only flour and water so the rigatoni shape holds up well and the ribs on the outside can trap the sauce for a more complete coating. The sausage in the dish is hand crafted with ground pork and their house made seasoning and it gets added to the sauce (along with mushrooms and pasta) before serving.
The vodka sauce is essentially an extension of their marinara. Once the vodka is added and flamed out, heavy cream is added which creates a nuanced balance between the acidity of the tomatoes and the richness of the cream. After a finish of Parmesan cheese, everything is mixed and placed in the bowl along with a topping of grana cheese.
This is one of the best rigatoni dishes you’re going to eat. While the vodka sauce could easily be jarred and sold, the fact that it’s penetrating everything on the plate ensures that any bite you take is hitting the palette with maximum flavor. The dish as a whole is comforting in a way that makes you feel like family, which is when Italian food is at its best.
Dish: Lumaconi
Place: Lanza’s (Kings Beach)
A house favorite that comes from a recipe that was passed down by a grandfather who was serving this dish while in the Italian army.
The process begins with large shell pasta boiled until they are soft enough to stuff. The mixture that fills the shells is a combination of ground beef, garlic, onion, spinach, eggs, Parmesan, and spices. Once the order of five is ready, they are wrapped in deli paper until ready to order.
Once ordered, the serving dish gets an initial coat of their slow-cooked meat sauce, then the shells delicately placed on top. More sauce is added over top along with a hearty helping of their cheese blend (mozzarella and Monterey Jack). That goes into a screaming hot oven until bubbling and ready to eat.
Every bite of this dish feels like a warm hug from the grandfather that created it. The ratio of cheese to sauce to pasta is perfect and when you grab a little bite of the toasted cheese on top, it highlights the depth of every other flavor.
Each of the shells are stuffed and bursting at the seams while the spinach gives a nice subtle pop of sweet and earthiness that counterbalances the richness of the other components. The ground beef stays juicy, and you can really feel the love cooked into not only the red sauce, but the entire dish.
Dish: 20 Layer Lasagna
Place: Bruschetta (Stateline)
Not long ago, my wife and I tried for the first time, a lasagna recipe at home using fresh noodles. After that experience we both said moving forward that the only lasagna we want is one that uses fresh noodles. The hard part is, it’s time consuming. Or you can just go to Bruschetta and try theirs.
You may think 20 layers sounds like a lot, but the restaurant originally was shooting for 100, so 20 sounds tame in comparison. The key to the layers is the ultra-fine sheets of fresh pasta that are blanched first before starting the construction. The other layers consist of a bechamel sauce, and a ragu featuring pork, veal, prosciutto, and pancetta with the final topping layer of focaccia breadcrumbs for added texture.
If you’re wondering where the cheese is at, it’s mainly melted into the bechamel (with a little inside the layers for added flavor). Sharp white cheddar and mozzarella are blended for a velvety smooth texture that helps punctuate the saltiness of the meats.
Sure, there is also plenty of garlic, Parmesan, basil, onions, and other spices throughout, but for this dish, it’s all about the taste and how each bite seemingly melts in your mouth. And if you’re lucky enough, because these are cooked in large pans, you might get a piece that has lasagna’s signature crispy edges.
With as many people as I talk with around town, and the reputation this dish has garnered amongst locals, when the idea of doing pasta dishes for the magazine came up, this was the first one I thought of. Now I know it was for good reason.
Dish: Tagliatelle with Ragu Bolognese
Place: Great Gold (Truckee)
At Great Gold, the pasta making process starts every morning. In this noodle’s case, it’s 100% egg yolk (no whites), which makes for a richer flavor and springier texture. The dough is rolled out and hand-cut, forming a pasta that’s similar to pappardelle, but skinnier in width.
This pasta’s partner in crime is a prosciutto Bolognese. While prosciutto is not your typical Bolognese protein, it does add a saltiness that balances the rest of the ingredients out perfectly. There’s also a little beef and pork that are added to the fray, but everything gets grinded together along with carrots, onions, celery, garlic, and fennel.
Everything goes into a stock pot with white wine and house-made chicken stock for a low and slow cook lasting about six hours. Heavy cream is added for another two hours before getting finished off with sherry vinegar to help cut through the richness. The pasta is boiled off and added to the sauce along with a touch of butter and fresh basil then topped with an avalanche of freshly grated Parmesan.
Some of the best Italian food in the world is straightforward and simple with a focus on the process and ingredients and this dish is no different. Everything is intentional with layers and layers of flavor. The sauce infiltrates every noodle in the bowl with nothing going uncoated, and while there is a richness to it all, it never feels overbearing. The meat is luscious and the veggies ultra tender and if given the opportunity to eat another bowl directly after finishing my first, I’d strongly consider it.
Dish: Spätzle
Place: Himmel Haus (South Lake Tahoe)
The curveball on the list. But I assure you this German pasta is indeed pasta. It is made from scratch every morning with egg, flour, nutmeg, white pepper, and salt. However, this dough doesn’t rest like most, it’s rather more like a wet noodle dough that is pushed through a strainer into boiling water creating a free-forming pasta. After about 10 minutes it’s plunged into an ice bath to stop the cooking and get ready for order.
Once that happens, it is sauteed in clarified butter with onions, salt and pepper, along with a little parsley – a very traditional preparation. You have the option to add in bacon or wurst (or both) and you cannot go wrong with either.
The unique texture of this pasta allows for the bacon flavor to soak into each piece beautifully, transferring that salty/smoky flavor of the bacon into the entire dish. If choosing the wurst, you get your choice of Bratwurst (pork) or Bockwurst (veal), each of which are grilled and set atop the pasta. If you want something a little less German, assorted game sausages or Kielbasa are always also available.
For the pasta, that uniqueness shines through with a striking balance of crispy and chewy with a slight sweetness from the onion, which also pulls double duty as a texture component. Adding in the protein makes this quite the meal and I would suggest going big and pairing with one of their many German beers on tap – oh, and don’t forget the mustard.
Dish: Birria Mac & Cheese
Place: Gar Woods (Carnelian Bay)
Birria and mac and cheese? Yes, you are not dreaming. The pairing of this comfort food super duo is as dynamic and delicious as you think it is and it all gets ramped up with beef short rib braising for about four hours in a bath of ingredients like soy, chilis, garlic, celery, orange juice, among others.
The “mac” is a bowtie pasta and the “cheese” in this sauce is a combination of three (Manchego, Gruyere, and American), with the Manchego doing the heavy lifting. It’s melted down to a creamy consistency with the addition of chipotle for a slightly smoky burst. Once that is plated up, it’s topped with the birria meat, a black bean and corn salsa, freshly sliced avocado, and a jalapeno ranch drizzle.
If you couldn’t guess, this dish explodes like a flavor volcano but surprisingly, none of them are screaming out for attention. Instead, each of them picks up where the other leaves off for a harmonious and layered bite.
The meat is ultra tender and there’s easily enough to spread throughout until your final bite. While some mac and cheese dishes can feel heavy, there’s a lightness here that allows you to devour the entire thing (if you really wanted).
When it comes to mac and cheese, this dish might come with the best view of Tahoe in the entire basin … which makes for a pretty tempting offer.
Dish: Seabass & Arrabbiata Pasta
Place: Maggie’s (South Lake Tahoe)
When people say you eat with your eyes first, this is the type of dish that gives you a full belly at first glance. Its playful colors are a precursor for what you are about to have hit your tastebuds.
Starting with the pasta, the vegan bucatini (slightly thicker spaghetti) is crafted in house with the addition of saffron which gives it a slightly sweeter flavor. It’s wrapped in a spicy arrabbiata sauce which includes fresh tomatoes, Calabrian chiles, garlic, red and white wine before getting tossed with a little bit of cream, guanciale, and sun-dried tomato. Once twirled on the plate, it’s topped with a seasoned and grilled Chilean sea bass and topped with curled bell peppers.
The sea bass is cooked to a perfect medium and with its buttery flakiness, provides a stellar canvas to let the pasta and sauce shine. But even with the slight heat and layers of flavor from the sauce, the delicate flavor of the fish is not lost.
The combination of the fresh and sun-dried tomato can write the book on being balanced. Along with the creaminess, the salty punch you get from the guanciale makes this one of the best sauces in this list. I am an extreme lover of sun-dried tomatoes, so take that for what it’s worth.
Anytime you can give me seafood and pasta, I’m going to have a good time. But when it’s elevated like this, it’s time to party.
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the Winter 2025/26 edition of Tahoe Magazine.
