Italian has three ways to express the presence of an ingredient in the name of a dish:
- Dish di ingredient: the ingredient is the main or only component of the dish, e.g. “succo di limone” (lemon juice). In this case the article is never used before the ingredient.
- Dish con ingredient: the ingredient is a visible component of the dish or used as garnish, e.g. “fragole con panna” (strawberries with cream). In this case a definite article can be used before the ingredient.
- Dish a ingredient: the dish has been flavored with the ingredient, or tastes like the ingredient, e.g. “gelato al cioccolato” (chocolate ice cream). In this case the definite article is mandatory before the ingredient, forming an articulated preposition with a.
When there is no room for confusion the three can occasionally be mixed up, e.g. “panino al salame” is as common as “panino con salame”; however, in many cases using one instead of the other can give hints on the dish’s composition. (c) Duolingo
Дополнение от Sergey Snegirev:
“Если в блюде два равноправных компонента, то “е”, без артикля. Pasta e fagioli, paglia e fieno, ciceri e tria.”
Дополнение от Yury Shatz:
“Al или alla может также означать способ приготовления. Например spaghetti alla puttanesca не делаются с добавлением проститутки.
Там история типа пришли люди в ресторан, а у повара ничего нет. Они говорят – ну накидай нам какую-то puttanata.То есть по-русски это были бы макароны с херней.”