Italian Food - By Category
Ingredients, Techniques, Tips, and Menus
Cooking is about ingredients, on the one hand, and technique on the other: Selecting the proper top quality ingredients is vital, as are knowing the techniques necessary to transform them into a tasty dish. Here you'll find all sorts of advice, tips, cookbook suggestions, menus and more.
Breads, Pizza Rolls, Focaccia, Grissini...
Though pizza is perhaps the most popular food on the planet it's just the beginning. There are focaccia, pane ferrarese, grissini and much more!
Antipasti, Starters, Salads...
Everything from bruschetta to arancini di riso, foods to snack on or begin the meal.
Zuppe, Minestre, and other Glorious Soups
Soups, zuppe and minestre to warm the heart in wither and refresh in summer.
Rice & Risotto
Italians have been growing rice for a very long time, and have developed many ways to prepare it. The best known is certainly risotto, which is a delicious and delicate alternative to pasta. It's also much easier to prepare than people think, and is extraordinarily versatile. In short, risotto is perfect in any occasion.
Pasta Recipes and Sauces
Pasta comes in an amazing variety of shapes and forms, which can be sauced in an equally varied number of ways, from refreshing pesto to hearty meat or Alfredo. And then there are the stuffed and baked varieties, gnocchi, and sauces that will work well in other parts of the meal...
Polenta Recipes
Polenta translates as corn meal mush, but it's much more. It's the staple food of the north, where it still outshines pasta, and can be served in innumerable ways, as a first course, baked, with stews, or even as a bread substitute.
Fish Recipes
Italy has thousands of miles of coast line, and lakes and rivers too. Lots of ways to prepare a fish, everything from stuffing squid to roasting swordfish.
Meat Recipes
Like everything else, Italian meat recipes are quite varied, and you'll find something fit for every occasion, from a zesty cutlet or involtino through grilled chicken, and onto an elegant roast.
Vegetables and Side Dishes
Italy is one great vegetable patch from the Alps on down. Anything that can be grown is grown, and turned into delightful side dishes of one sort or another, many of which can also double as a main course in a light meal.
Egg Recipes
The Egg: Amazingly versatile, though it looks so simple!
Cheese Dishes
Cheese plays a vital role in the Italian diet -- always has, since before the Romans, because cheese making was the only way to preserve highly nutritious milk before refrigeration. Because of this, Italy has a tremendous number of tasty cheeses and cheesy dishes.
Cakes, Pies, Pastries, Biscotti and More
Italy has incredibly rich pastry traditons, from rich Sicilian cannoli and Cassata to the seductive orange-laced ricciarelli from Siena, and on to the elegant chocolatey wonders of the areas long under Austria. Something for everyone and every occasion!
Wine, Water, Coffe, and so on: Drink, in short.
It's very difficult to approach food without touching on drink -- they're two faces of a coin, so to speak, and one naturally leads to the other: Italian food without water or wine doesn't seem quite right, and then there's the coffee, and... You get the picture.
Italy: Living Here, Travel, People, and More
Since I live in Italy I have my ear much closer to the ground than many, and also have the opportunity to discover things that many would not. So: Commentary, travel ideas and much more.