Taste Italy
Italia
Italian food is regional first. Emilia-Romagna's egg pasta and cured pork, Campania's tomatoes and fried street food, Sicily's Arab-Norman sweetness, Liguria's pesto, Veneto's rice — they are neighbouring countries in practice. What they share is an allergy to wasting good produce and a belief that technique should stay quiet.
32 recipes · 3 cuisines
Essential dishes
Carbonara
Carbonara
Roman pasta of guanciale, egg, pecorino and pepper — no cream, no peas, no debate in this house except the usual one.
30 minMediumNo chilli
Cacio e pepe
Cacio e pepe
Pecorino, pepper and pasta water — a Roman emulsion that looks like nothing and fails if you rush it.
20 minMedium🌶️
Aglio e olio
Aglio e olio
Garlic, olive oil, chilli and pasta — midnight cooking that only works if the garlic does not burn.
17 minEasy🌶️
Amatriciana
Amatriciana
Guanciale, tomato and pecorino — the Roman-Amatrice pasta that is not a generic bacon-and-red-sauce.
30 minEasy🌶️
Risotto alla Milanese
Risotto alla Milanese
Saffron risotto, yellow on purpose — bone marrow if you are old-school, butter and parmigiano if you are cooking on a Tuesday.
40 minMediumNo chilli
Pesto alla Genovese
Pesto alla Genovese
Basil, pine nuts, garlic, cheese and oil — pounded, not cooked, and not a jar of green oil.
27 minEasyNo chilli
Pasta alla Norma
Pasta alla Norma
Sicilian eggplant, tomato and salted ricotta — named for an opera, cooked like a Tuesday.
45 minEasyNo chilli
Focaccia
Focaccia
Olive-oil bread with a dimpled top — Ligurian if you are strict, a very good tray if you are hungry.
2 hr 50 minMediumNo chilli
Polenta
Polenta
Northern cornmeal porridge — soft with cheese, or set, sliced and grilled the next day.
45 minEasyNo chilli
Tiramisu
Tiramisù
Mascarpone, egg, coffee-soaked savoiardi — the dessert people argue about because they care.
4 hr 25 minMediumNo chilli
Pizza Margherita
Pizza Margherita
Tomato, mozzarella, basil — a Neapolitan idea you can bake hot on a home stone or a screaming tray.
8 hr 42 minMediumNo chilli
Budino Di Ricotta
Mash the ricotta and beat well with the egg yolks, stir in the flour, sugar, cinnamon, grated lemon rind and the rum and mix well. You can do this in a food processor. Beat the egg whites until stiff, fold in and pour in
50 minMediumNo chilli
Chilli prawn linguine
Chilli prawn linguine from Italy. Times were inferred from the source steps.
21 minA bit of work🌶️
Squash linguine
Squash linguine from Italy. Times were inferred from the source steps.
1 hrEasyNo chilli
Pizza Express Margherita
Pizza Express Margherita from Italy. Times were inferred from the source steps.
1 hr 22 minA bit of workNo chilli
Potato Gratin with Chicken
15 minute potato gratin with chicken and bacon greens: a gratin always seems more effort and more indulgent than ordinary boiled or roasts, but it doesn't have to take 45mins, it's nice for a change and you can control t
1 hr 8 minMediumNo chilli
Salmon Prawn Risotto
Salmon Prawn Risotto from Italy. Times are typical for this kind of dish.
35 minMediumNo chilli
Spaghetti alla Carbonara
Spaghetti alla Carbonara from Italy. Times were inferred from the source steps.
1 hrA bit of workNo chilli
Spaghetti Bolognese
Spaghetti Bolognese from Italy. Times were inferred from the source steps.
44 minMediumNo chilli
Spicy Arrabiata Penne
Spicy Arrabiata Penne from Italy. Times were inferred from the source steps.
26 minMedium🌶️
Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni
First make the tomato sauce. Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the garlic for 1 min. Add the sugar, vinegar, tomatoes and some seasoning and simmer for 20 mins, stirring occasionally, until thick. Add the basil and div
1 hr 11 minA bit of workNo chilli
Venetian Duck Ragu
Venetian Duck Ragu from Italy. Times were inferred from the source steps.
2 hr 42 minA bit of workNo chilli
Chicken Alfredo Primavera
Chicken Alfredo Primavera from Italy. Times were inferred from the source steps.
51 minA bit of workNo chilli
Fettuccine Alfredo
Fettuccine Alfredo from Italy. Times are typical for this kind of dish.
35 minEasyNo chilli
Ribollita
Ribollita from Italy. Times were inferred from the source steps.
1 hrA bit of workNo chilli
Fettucine alfredo
Fettucine alfredo from Italy. Times were inferred from the source steps.
24 minMediumNo chilli
Osso Buco alla Milanese
Osso Buco alla Milanese from Italy. Times were inferred from the source steps.
4 hr 31 minA bit of workNo chilli
Vegan Lasagna
Vegan Lasagna from Italy. Times were inferred from the source steps.
1 hr 12 minMediumNo chilli
Lasagne
Lasagne from Italy. Times were inferred from the source steps.
1 hr 28 minA bit of workNo chilli
Mediterranean Pasta Salad
Mediterranean Pasta Salad from Italy. Times were inferred from the source steps.
1 hrMediumNo chilli
Pilchard puttanesca
Pilchard puttanesca from Italy. Times were inferred from the source steps.
15 minMedium🌶️
Rigatoni with fennel sausage sauce
Rigatoni with fennel sausage sauce from Italy. Times were inferred from the source steps.
1 hr 29 minA bit of workNo chilli
Regional cuisines
Think you know Italy food?
31 quiz dishes. Optional — Passport stamps still come from cooking.
Take the Italy food quizFood history
Roman, Etruscan, Arab, Spanish and Austrian influences layered onto peninsula agriculture. Tomato only became central after the Americas. Carbonara, as Roman trattorie cook it now, is a 20th-century dish; that does not make it less Italian. Home cooking still organises itself around market vegetables, dried pasta, and the pot of something already in the fridge.
Common ingredients
Techniques
- soffritto
- al dente boiling
- emulsifying pasta water
- slow sauce
- grilling