Italian Food: Most Popular Articles

Making Risotto
Making a good risotto is rather like riding a bicycle: It takes a little bit of practice to begin with, and a certain amount of concentration thereafter. But making risotto is easy, and quite satisfying

Classic Italian Dishes
Italian cooking is very difficult to pin down -- almost every city and town has its specialties, and there are regional trends too; the end result is a huge number of local cuisines rather than a single national cuisine. However, there are some dishes that you will find almost everywhere, and that are now standards among the many Italian communities scattered across the globe.

Bruschetta
Bruschetta is one of the simplest things in the world to make, and can be very satisfying if you have good extravirgin olive oil.

Making Pasta
Making pasta at home takes effort, but can be lots of fun.

About Potato Gnocchi
Gnocchi, Potato and Otherwise: Gnocchi are little dumplings, and though gocchi di patata -- potato gnocchi -- are the best known, there are many other tasty varieties of gnocchi.

Farro: Grain of the Legions
Farro: Grain of the Legions Grano Farro has a long and glorious history: it is the original grain from

A Fabulous Fruit Bar!
A Fabulous Fruit Bar!

Enrico Banducci's Minestrone
Enrico Banducci was the late, great leader of the San Francisco club scene whose Hungry I introduced many performers to West Coast audiences, including Bill Cosby, Tom Lehrer, and Barbara Streisand. But he was also an excellent cook, and I am much indebted to his friend Ernie Beyl for sending me his Minestrone Recipe. "Enrico's grandmother learned how to prepare this minestrone in Genoa," Ernie says.

Cannoli
Cannoli Carnival, otherwise known as Martedì Grasso (Mardigras), means different things in different

Cannelloni & Manicotti
Cannelloni & Manicotti Cannelloni, which are also known as manicotti in the United States, are a relatively

Never Cooked Italian?
One of the drawbacks of living in Italy is that one tends to take Italian culture for granted and assume everyone else is familiar with it too. If you've never been to Italy you may well not, even if you enjoy cooking Italian dishes -- the few times I have eaten in Italian restaurants abroad the meals haven't been anything like what I'd serve at home in Tuscany.

Zucchini
Zucchini Zucchini were, in the past, the quintessential Italian summer vegetable: Tiny, flavorful baby

About Ravioli & Other Stuffed Pasta
About Ravioli & Other Types of Stuffed Pasta Stuffed pasta goes a long way back (Boccaccio mentions ravioli

Ceci!
Chickpeas, also known as garbanzos, may be native to the Orient, but have been a staple in the Mediterranean Basin for hundreds of years, and are quite common throughout Italy.

Sicilian-Style Broccoli
This very traditional Sicilian dish can be either a side dish or a pasta sauce. In the past, when the poor could grow their broccoli, but had to buy the pasta, the greens predominated over the pasta when the recipe was used as a sauce. It's also a nice accompaniment to a roast or stew.

Spaghetti with Meatballs
Spaghetti with Meatballs When I was little, I always wondered why I never encountered the spaghetti with

Pizza: Background & More
It's not hard to make pizza dough -- start with top quality ingredients and you'll be fine. If you use a bread machine to make the dough it will be much quicker to make.

Using a wood-fired pizza oven
To use a wood-fired pizza oven you must have two things: A hot oven and pizza dough (toppings aren't essential, as there are also focaccia and other flat breads). We'll begin with the dough.

Pasta Salads
Pasta salads are wonderful when it's hot, easy to make, improve with time, and perfect on picnics or cookouts. Who could ask for more?

Favorite Summer Pasta
Italian foods are seasonal, with rich foods during the winter to keep the chill at bay, and lighter, more refershing dishes in the summer to help us deal with the heat. Here are some summer pasta dishes I especially like.

Pasta al Forno
As anyone who visits Italy rapidly realizes, pasta may be the national dish, but it's not a monolith: In adapting it to suit local traditions and ingredients, the cooks of the Peninsula have produced an infinite variety of forms and preparation methods. This is especially true for baked pasta, where the kind of pasta used and the sauces used to season it vary greatly from place to place.

Arancini di Riso
In addition to being fine snacks, these golden filled rice balls make excellent antipasti at parties, and if you make several small batches with different fillings they'll work very well with other fried foods as part of a fritto misto (mixed fried foods). Or you may want a lighter meal, and just serve them with a tossed salad.

Florentine Style Steak
Many in the English-speaking world would call this a Porterhouse and wonder what the fuss is about. And they'd be right in most cases; though fiorentine are featured prominently on the menus of almost all the restaurants in Florence, finding a good one isn't at all easy. But when you do it's heaven on earth, delightfully rich, flavorful rare meat so tender it can be cut with a spoon. Much of the secret is the breed of cattle, Chianina beef...

Polenta, Angelo e Demone
Most People Think Of Pasta As The Quintessential Italian Dish, and this is true for much of the Peninsula, especially the south. Polenta, on the other hand, was the staple food of the poor in the North, especially those living out in the country. And it's still a staple today, North Italians still eat it today, because it' very tasty, extremely versatile, and an ideal accompaniment to all sorts of things.

Picnic Foods
With the arrival of the summer months, Italians flee the cities whenever possible -- down to the shore to catch some rays, or up into the mountains to escape the heat. Food plays an important part in this, especially in escapes to the hills, where, come lunch time folding chairs, picnic tables, and coolers appear, and everyone settles in the shade of the trees....

Regarding The Olive Garden Restaurants
Snippets from the Italian Scene Regarding The Olive Garden Restaurants For some reason this spring I

Orecchiette
Orecchiette Orecchiette are a distinctive Puglian type of pasta shaped roughly like small ears, hence

Penne Rigate with Peppers...
Penne Rigate with Peppers and Eggplant: In winter, penne are perfect with a thick meat sauce. In the summer, on the other hand, this vegetable sauce will be much more refreshing.

How to Make Risotto
Making Risotto: You sauté your herbs and flavorings in unsalted butter or olive oil, add the rice and sauté it too in the oil to lightly toast it, add a little wine, and, once it has evaporated, begin adding simmering broth or stock until the rice is done add butter and cheese if you want, let it sit for a couple of minutes, and serve. There are some variations, however. For example, if your flavoring is moist, and thus can't be sautéed, you can use the two pot technique.

Funghi Porcini
Funghi Porcini "Every year come September, the price of mushrooms drops and I stock up on porcini," wrote

Limoncello
True Limoncello is made in Sorrento, from lemons whose trees overlook the Mediterranean. However, if you have good lemons where you live (I'd want organically grown here), you can get pretty close. And it's easy.

Italian Regional Cuisines
Italian Regional Cuisines North Italian Cuisines | Central Italian Cuisines South Italian Cuisines |

How to Make Focaccia
Focaccia, or schiacciata, is a simple savory flatbread that's a fine change of pace from regular bread. It's also a wonderful base for a sandwich, and, when made with a topping, is one of the finest nibble-foods there is.

Bolognese Sauce
You may grow old, even doddering, but if you know how to make a good meat sauce for pasta people will still beat a path to your door.

Sicilian Pesto Sauce
Sicilian Pesto Sauce, or Pesto alla Siciliana: Almost everyone is familiar with Pesto alla Genovese, the green garlic-and-basil sauce that's one of the symbols of Ligurian cuisine. The verb pestare means "to stomp on," or to crush, and therefore the word pesto describes a process more than a product. Indeed, pesto alla genovese is made by grinding the ingredients in a mortar. So is Pesto alla Siciliana, which is made with tomatoes rather than basil.

Italian Pizza Toppings & More
Pizza toppings and Calzone Fillings.

The Pasta Shapes Glossary
Pasta comes in an astonishing variety of shapes, some of which are common throughout Italy, and some of which are limited to a particular region, or even town. There are also specialty shapes produced by individual pasta makers.

Clelia's Cookies!
Clelia's Cookies! Daughter Clelia just turned 2 1/2, and is in day care, at a fun place called Il Cielo

Baked Pasta Dishes
Classic Italian dishes

Eggplant Parmesan
Eggplant Parmesan, or Melanzane alla Parmigiana, is one of the great Neapolitan dishes that has spread across the globe. A superb Neapolitan combination of tomatoes, eggplant, and cheese.

Classic Italian Puddings, Gelato & other Spoon Desserts
Classic Italian dishes

Italian Finger Food
Italy has a long tradition of finger foods, tasty morsels to grab on the go: Arancini, panelle, calzoni, frittelle, or any number of things. These finger foods also make great party foods, while the many spreads and toppings people put on crostini (toasted bread) also make great dips. Much to enjoy!

Alfredo Sauce and Cream Sauce
Fiesolana Sauce is a smooth, creamy, cream sauce, and will work well over pasta or stuffed pasta, especially tortellini with a meat filling. If you modify the recipe slightly, you instead obtain an Alfredo sauce.

Cook Pasta
Cooking pasta is easy, but there are rules.

Panna Cotta
Here's a recipe for Panna Cotta, a traditional Piemontese pudding.

Italian Restaurant Reviews: Where to eat when you come to visit
Where to Eat When You Come Because of my work I have to eat out often. These are some of the places I

Spaghetti with Pesto Sauce
Pesto Sauce: A classic garlicky basil sauce from Liguria that's perfect in summer.

Creamy Tomato Sauce
A delicate cream with a pleasing blush from tomatoes, and all over pasta: This is good when you're in a rush, or if unexpected company stops in.

Insalata Caprese
Insalata Caprese is a simple summer salad made with tomatoes, mozzarella olive oil, and basil: Food fit for a king!

Corkscrews with Vegetables...
Corkscrews with Vegetables and Mozzarella, or Fusilli Con Verdura e Mozzarella: Mozzarella is one of the most refreshing cheeses there is, and works very well with grilled vegetables in this sauce. The recipe calls for frozen grilled vegetables, which will greatly reduce the preparation time; you could also buy grilled vegetables from your deli.

Ravioli Liguri
This is the original Ligurian recipe for ravioli, stuffed pasta without any meat at all - mostly greens, and some cheese. You can also make naked ravioli, dumplings without the pasta shell.

Getting Around the Site: Italian Recipes and Wines
The Italian Cuisine Index

Classic Italian Breads
Bread is one of the most variable of Italian foods: In different areas you'll find different flours or combinations of flours, some poeple use salt and others do not, some shape their breads into loaves, whereas others prefer rounds, wheels, or even crosses, some brush their bread with oil, some dry it... And that's just a beginning.

Lambrusco
Lambrusco is the perfect wine for a picnic, cookout, or light meal.

A Selection of Classic Italian Stuffed Pasta Dishes
Classic Italian dishes

Steak roasted in salt.
How to pan fry a steak on a bed of salt: Quick, easy, and very tasty.

Vitello Tonnato
Vitello tonnato, chilled veal in a tuna sauce, is one of THE classic summer dishes, and is also the traditional centerpiece of the Ferragosto dinner in Milano (Assumption Day, August 15).

Hearty Italian Soups
Classic Italian dishes

Four Cheese Sauce for Pasta
Pasta ai Quatto Formaggi, or Four Cheese Sauce for Pasta: I was recently asked for a four cheeses sauce for pasta. Here are a couple variations on four cheese sauce.

Tiramisu
A couple of people have asked me for which is my favorite among the dozens of Tiramisu recipes out there. Put simply, wife Elisabetta's.

Minestrone
Minestrone, a thick, hearty vegetable soup, is one of Italy's signature dishes. Minestrone never comes out the same way twice, and it's always good.

Pasta with Smoked Salmon
Pasta with smoked salmon is one of the standard Italian Valentine’s Day recipes (the versions printed are often aimed at men). This particular pasta with smoked salmon recipe is based on a dish of pasta I enjoyed many years ago at Il Pantheon, a restaurant in Rome.

Caponata alla Siciliana
The dish more people probably associate with Sicily than any other is caponata, a (generally) eggplanty delight that has now spread throughout the Peninsula -- a zesty summer dish that's ideal for perking up an indolent appetite on a hot day.

Minestra Maritata, or Wedding Soup
Minestra Maritata About once a week I get an email requesting Italian wedding soup. Tuscans don't serve

La Focaccia Ligure
Focaccia Ligurian flatbread, is the perfect bread for a simple meal or a quick snack, and an excellent antipasto too. There are many variations on the theme.

Home-Made Ricotta
Home-Made Ricotta From Cosa Bolle in Pentola , the Newsletter : Moving decisively towards food, Diana

Tuscan Bread Salad
Panzanella is a refreshing Tuscan summer bread salad. Panzanella is quick to make, requires no cooking, and is the perfect thing to enjoy on a hot summer day, especially at a picnic or cookout.

Canocchie, or Mantis Shrimp
Canocchie, or mantis shrimp. In many parts of Italy they're called Panocchie. Also, a simple canocchia or mantis shrimp antipasto.

Saltimbocca alla Romana
Saltimbocca is one of the most classic Roman dishes. The name literally translates as hopinthemouth and is singularly appropriate -- you can never have too many of these veal cutlets with prosciutto and sage.

Rice and Zucchini
This summer dish is not a risotto in the strict sense of the term -- it should come out not so liquid as a soup, but with some liquid to it, and be eaten with a spoon. Artusi notes that the "rice shouldn't be too soupy, nor should the zucchini be cooked till they fall apart."

Spaghetti with Clams
Spaghetti with clams is the quintessential summer dish, and is amazingly refreshing on a hot day. Though you can use canned shellfish packed in their juice to make spaghetti alle vongole, live clams are far better. I prefer them in a white (tomato free) sauce because I find that tomatoes overshadow the flavor of the clams.

Brasato Al Barolo
Brasato al Barolo, beef braised in Barolo wine, is one of the classic, elegant Piemontese dishes, and really does require a hearty red wine, ideally Barolo, to come out right. Save it for a special occasion, and you'll be quite pleased with the results.

Benvenuta Primavera!
Fresh spring vegetables -- as opposed to what's grown in a hothouse -- are by now flooding the markets, and it's time to put them to use. Making Pasta alla Primavera, for example: There's no one recipe because people's tastes and vegetable patches differ, but they all share the delightful freshness of Spring.

Branzino or European Sea Bass
Branzino, or European Sea Bass. In England it's simply called bass. Also, a recipe for Filetti Di Branzino in Crosta di Patate - Sea Bass Filets in a Mashed Potato Crust.

Chris's Wedding Soup
Hi, Kyle. Thought I'd contribute this wedding soup recipe. This is the one I grew up with, so it's of course the only one I can eat! I don't know if you need this at all, but I felt compelled to send it in. Best, Chris Castellani

Classic Italian Meatballs & Meat Loaves
Classic Italian dishes

DOCG, VdT, DOC: what does it mean?
DOC, VdT, DOCG: What does it mean? Reading an Italian label is usually straight forward: there's the

How to Roast a Whole Piglet
The best known Italian roast pig is porchetta: A boned whole pig very well seasoned and spit roasted for hours. It's classic festival food, and a standby at markets and fairs. But unless you're feeding a huge gathering, and have quite a bit of experience managing a fire pit, roasting it's not practical. A piglet is, on the other hand, if you're feeding a large group -- say 20-30 people.

Pasta and Bean Soup
Pasta e fagioli, also known as pasta fazool (and many other variations on the spelling) is a universal comfort soup that almost everyone has come up with, and there are a tremendous number of local variations on the theme in Italy. This particular one is Tuscan.

Spring Pie with Green Rice
rances writes, "My late father used to make, every Easter, a "pie" called "Torta Verde." This is a dish that originates in the Piedmont section of Italy, where he was born. It's made with chopped spinach, rice, eggs, Parmigiano cheese, and baked. I would love to have an idea of the proportions. Can you help with this?" I've found a couple of recipies. The first is Torta Primavera, di Riso Verde -- Spring Pie with Green Rice.

Classic Italian Cakes
Classic Italian dishes

A Selection of Cream & Cheese Based Pasta Sauces
Classic Italian dishes: Pasta

Risotto with Porcini Mushrooms
Mushroom risotto is wonderful, especially in the fall when the mushrooms are freshly dried.

Savory Farro Pie
A savory cheesecake made with ricotta and farro.

Crostini
No festive Tuscan meal would be complete without a platter of crostini to start it off.

South Italian Cooking
Southern Italy comprises 6 regions: Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise and Puglia. Quick overviews of the cuisines, and links to recipes.

Calamari, or Common Squid
Calamari, or Common Squid, and a recipe for stewed squid with artichokes

Classic Meat Based Pasta Sauces
Classic Italian dishes: Pasta

Quick Italian Recipes
A selection of Italian recipes that take less than a half hour to prepare.

Salumi
Recipe requests come in waves. In winter, people write for instructions on making cold cuts from pork: Salami, prosciutto, salsiccia, finocchiona, pancetta, and so on, which are collectively referred to as salumi. In the past these were all made when hogs were butchered in late fall or early winter, and set aside to guarantee a supply of meat during the warmer months when uncured meats would spoil rapidly.

Coda di Rospo, or Monkfish
Coda di Rospo or Rana Pescatrice, in English Anglerfish, monkfish, or goosefish. Skinned and ready for sale, and a recipe for Anglerfish alla Cacciatora

Tortellini alla Panna - Tortellini with Cream
Tortellini alla Panna - Tortellini with Cream These tortellini are served dry, and should be a little

Penne with Vodka Sauce
Penne alla Vodka, Penne with a creamy, tomatoey Vodka Sauce, is very easy to prepare. Quick, too.

Preparing Live Clams
Simply put, you soak them in salted water.

Verona, the Florence of the North?
Verona -- The Florence of the North? S OME G UIDEBOOKS I NTRODUCE V ERONA as the Florence of the North.

Vinegar: Making it from Wine
Making Vinegar From Wine If you make wine (as oppesed to apple) vinegar, you can dispense with the apples

Favorite picnic foods
The success of a cookout hinges upon the grill. However, even the tastiest steak or grilled chicken served up on a plate by itself will only go so far. And then you'll need a side dish. Some of my favorites:

Northern Italian Cuisines
Northern Italy comprises eight regions: Liguria, Valle D'Aosta, Piemonte, Lombardia, Trentino-Alto Adige, Veneto, Friuli Venezia-Giulia, and Emilia Romagna. Quick overviews of the cuisines, and links to regional recipes.

Vegetarian Lasagna
There are as many variations on lasagna as there are cooks. This vegetarian lasagna is light and refreshing, and will be perfect in the hotter months, when a richer meaty lasagna would simply be too much.

How do Italians serve pasta?
There are two basic kinds of commercial pasta: pasta all'uovo, egg pasta such as tagliatelle, fettuccine, and whatnot (these are the same tagliatelle one makes at home, but made with semolina), and pasta di semola di grano duro, made with semolina, water and a touch of salt. The former are flat and of varying width, while the latter comes in all sorts of shapes, from spaghetti to penne to cart wheels. Which kind should you use?

Classic Italian Lamb Dishes
Classic Italian dishes

On Oil for Frying
Some oils are better than others for frying. I find olive oil to be the best oil for frying.

Squash and Zucchini Blossoms
Zucchini and squash blossoms are an extraordinarily delicate summer treat. Zucchini blossoms are wonderful fried and delightful stuffed. How to select and cook zucchini blossoms.

Grilled Zucchini
Grilled Zucchini: One would expect grilled zucchini to be an obvious dish, but it's not nearly as common as all that. The recipe is courtesy of Ivana, who prepared it for a wonderful meal in the hinterland of Verona. It's more of a procedure than a recipe.

Oh, Fiorentina!
Tuscany's signature dish is the Bistecca alla Fiorentina, a thick, succulent porterhouse cut. Depending upon how thick it is, there are a number of ways to present it, and here are a few.

Vinegar: An Unlikely Gift from the Gods
Vinegar: An Unlikely Gift from the Gods Vinegar is the end product of fermentation: Yeasts transform

Pickled Vegetables
This is what most Italians think of when they hear the words Sotto Aceti, a collection of mixed pickled vegetables. The standard Italian antipasto misto wouldn't be quite right without these, and they also work very well with boiled meats in the winter months. This recipe will make about 2 1/2 pounds, and though you might be tempted to put it all into one big jar, you'll be better off using several smaller jars because the contents of an open jar loose their freshness.

Strawberries
Fragole Time was that strawberries were a rare treat, tiny bursts of flavor gathered in the forests when

Getting out of Town: An overview of Tuscan beaches
Getting out of Town: An Overview of Tuscan Beaches Dateline: 05/16/97 Folks, this has been a long week,

Arancini, Fritters and Snacks
If you wander the streets of just about any Italian town, you are certain to come across a friggitoria, or frying stand, dispensing snacks to passersby. Some of the specialties will be quite local, but others are by now standard.

Gelati and Sorbetti
Gelato and sherbet: Fantastic refreshers for the summer months, and wonderful comfort foods rear round.

Spaghetti Aio Oio
This is the one dish that all Italian men know how to make. It's also quite popular as a late night snack among friends, say after a night out at the theater.

Tasty Meringued Fruit Cocktail
This tasty, creamy fruit cocktail is a perfect example of the way modern Italian cooks are greeting new ingredients: mangoes are not native to Italy, but are much more common than they once were, and cheaper too. This is cool, refreshing, and will be very nice when it's hot out.

Creamy Risotto with Fontina
Mantecato means creamy, and this risotto certainly will be; it's a feast-day dish from the Val D'Aosta, specifically the valley floor and the sections closest to Piemonte. If you're really into cheese, you can also grate some Parmigiano over it, but I would find it superfluous.

Classic Veggie Antipasti
Pinzimonio, salads, pickles, sottoli... There's tremendous variety to Italian vegetable based antipasti; some are excellent at the beginning of a meal or to nibble on during a party, while others will also work well as the centerpiece of a light meal. Here are some standards you will find throughout Italy.

Neapolitan Tomato Sauce
Though slow-cooking pomarola is quite tasty, there are times you'll want something quicker -- that's when this classic Neapolitan sauce, known in the US as Marinara Sauce, comes into play. It's perfect for pasta, but will also work well with rice or pizza.

Rice & Peas - Risi e Bisi
Risi e bisi (rice and peas) is a classic Venetian dish. In the past it was prepared only on the feast days decreed by the Doge (Venice's ruler), and though one can now prepare risi e bisi at any time, the dish really shines only when freshly harvested baby peas are available.

Bucatini all'Amatriciana
Bucatini all'Amatriciana: This zesty pancetta and tomato sauce is commonly associated with Lazio and Rome, but is actually from the town of Amatrice, a part of the Abruzzo before Mussolini redrew the maps.

Tuscan Tomato Sauce, Pomarola
There's no dish quite so refreshing on a hot day as a bowl of pasta seasoned with lots of freshly made pomarola (Marinara in the US) and a handful of grated cheese. This recipe expands well, and most households make gallons of it when the flood of tomatoes reaches its peak in August, forcing the prices down. It can also be adapted to canned plum tomatoes.

Vegetable-Based Pasta Sauces
Pasta and Pasta Sauces

Cutting up a Chicken
Cut the halves in two.

Meat-Based Antipasti
Classic Italian Meat Antipasti: Some things you will find in much of the land.

Techniques for Cooking Fish
When you buy fish, make sure the gills are red. Also, a quick rundown of common techniques for cooking fish.

Making Risotto: The Basics
Making a good risotto takes a little bit of practice to begin with, and a certain amount of concentration thereafter. Risotti are also very sensitive to timing, and this is why what is served in a restaurant (no matter how good it is) will rarely display that rich texture and just-right doneness that a good home-made risotto will.

Panino Mediterraneo
A quick sandwich with greens and a little fish: Perfect for a quick, light lunch. The ingredients list makes it which sound a lot more involved than it is. You'll find just about all the ingredients in the deli section of the supermarket.

Cardi: Cardoons
Cardi: Cardoons Not too long ago there was a thread devoted to Cardoons on the Rec.Food.Cooking newsgroup,

Veal Saltimbocca
Leaonard's version of a Roman classic

The wines of Valpolicella
Valpolicella According to a friend of mine who manages a wine shop in New Jersey, most foreign consumers

Chicken Cacciatore
Chicken Cacciatore, or Pollo alla Cacciatora: This is one of those recipes that almost everyone has made, and almost everyone's version differs: For some it's plain chicken stewed in tomatoes with a little wine, some add olives, others shrimp, and others entirely different ingredients.

Spaghetti with Squid Ink
Squid ink is just what it sounds like -- the ink of the squid, and it adds both a sea tang and a deep black glow to this recipe. You will likely have to go to a fishmonger who has very fresh fish to obtain it, but it's worth the trip.

Lemon Ice
Lemon Ice: Aggie, who has kindly shared several recipes, says: "This is a Lemon Ice recipe from a friend in CT who said it was passed down from her Italian ancestors. We have enjoyed it."

Lasagne Bolognese Style
If you order lasagne in a restaurant in Tuscany you will be served something along these lines. Making lasagne completely from scratch is time consuming because you have to make the meat sauce; however, if you have about two cups of frozen sugo alla bolognese on hand, it only takes about an hour.

Marinara Sauce
A quick & Classic tomato sauce

Classic Cutlets, Braciole, & Steaks
Classic Italian dishes

Classic Italian Poultry Dishes
Classic Italian dishes

White Sauce: Besciamella
According to Pellegrino Artusi, a good béchamel sauce, also known as white sauce, and a properly cooked meat sauce are the principal secrets of refined cooking.

Il Panettone Milanese -- Milanese Panettone
Milano's classic Christmas Cake!

Cannelloni or Manicotti
Cannelloni, also known as Manicotti, and a Bell Pepper-And-Ricotta Filling for Them

A Maxi Calzone
A calzone is a pizza folded over to close the topping on the inside, and since it resembles a large sock in shape that's what it's called -- the word calzone means sock in Italian. Sometimes they contain tomato, though it's not a requirement, and the combination of bitter greens and pancetta here is quite nice.

Rice Salad - Insala di Riso
Rice salad is one of those classic summer dishes that varies greatly from cook too cook. This recipe is especially rich to give an idea of what can go into it. Feel free to tone it down or substitute other things to your taste.

A Watermelon Basket, Filled..
A Watermelon Basket, Filled With Grapes and Surrounded By Fruit

How To Fry Zucchini Blossoms
Zucchini and squash blossoms are (I think) one of the most delightful summer vegetables. They're good stuffed, but divine when fried.

Agnolotti
Agnolotti (pronounced anneeolottee) are Piemontese stuffed pasta, and come in a great many different varieties, some filled with cheese, others meat, and others still meatless. They are, in any case square and small, about 3/4 of an inch to an inch on a side, and are made using very thin sheets of pasta. They also are often made from cooked meat, in other words, leftovers. Recycling can result in something both elegant and very tasty.

Scampi
Scampi, and a very simple recipe for them.

Stale Bread
An Italian meal wouldn't be a meal without a loaf at table, and lots of people even use it to accompany pasta (and then wipe up the drippings with the crust, what's called fare la scarpetta). Because of this love of bread we had 5 bakeries within a 5-minute walk from our house in Florence, and now that we're out in the country we've got 3. Problem is, sometimes we buy too much and some goes stale. Or is this a problem? No, because there are many uses for stale bread.

Trippa
Trippa! "No matter how it's cooked, tripe [the lining of the first stomach of the cow] is an ordinary

Cuttlefish!
Cuttlefish are very common in Italian waters, and play an important part in everything from appetizers through elegant entrees.

San Gimignano: La Cittá delle Belle Torri
San Gimignano: La Cittá delle Belle Torri Perched on a hill with its towers thrown into sharp relief

Crespelle - - Crepes
Crespelle are the Italian equivalent of crepes. Though the preparation now has a certain ring of elegance to it, and crespelle appear often on upscale menus, in the past crespelle were considered poor people's food.

Torrone - - Nougat
Torrone, otherwise known as nougat, is a concoction made from honey, well-whipped egg whites, vanilla, and walnuts or almonds; it's an ancient sweet that requires considerable skill and care to make well, and in the past was also a great favorite among pastry chefs because it can be used as a building material for making fanciful cakes and other such delights. It's made throughout Italy, and Sicily's is especially renowned.