[1] Genovese may be prepared with inexpensive cuts of beef, pork, veal or sausage, but typically share and emphasize slow-cooked onions.

[3][4] The sauce may have been brought by Genovese immigrants or merchants, at a time when Genoa and Naples were two of Italy's most important ports.

[3] During the mid 19th century, 'salmon in Hollandaise and Genovese sauce' was served in the Le Grand Véfour restaurant of the Palais-Royal, in Paris, as a luxury dish.

[3][4][5][1][9] The slow cooking of the onions is especially important for the sauce's flavor,[10] and is facilitated by incremental additions of white wine, stock, or both.

[3][5] Genovese is typically served with the large, cylindrical pasta paccheri, but also rigatoni, ziti or candele—all favored because their shape can hold the sauce.