10. Spaghetti carbonara
It’s an easy pasta dish of a few simple ingredients. A true carbonara is made up of cured pork, eggs, the hard Italian cheese, Pecorino Romano and a pinch of freshly ground black pepper. The end result is a creamy, rich and smooth pasta dish with an irresistibly savory porky flavor.
9. Risotto
Risotto is a northern Italian rice dish cooked with broth until it reaches a creamy consistency. The broth can be derived from meat, fish, or vegetables. Many types of risotto contain butter, onion, white wine, and Parmigiano-Reggiano.
8. Osso Buco
Osso buco is a specialty of Lombard cuisine of cross-cut veal shanks braised with vegetables, white wine and broth. It is often garnished with gremolata and traditionally served with either risotto alla milanese or polenta, depending on the regional variation. The marrow in the hole of the bone, a prized delicacy, is the defining feature of the dish.
7. Lasagna
Lasagna is a type of pasta made of very wide, flat sheets. It also refers to an Italian dish made of stacked layers of lasagne alternating with fillings such as ground meat and tomato sauce, vegetables, cheeses and spices, such as garlic, oregano and basil.The dish may be topped with grated cheese, which becomes melted after baking. Typically cooked pasta is assembled with the other ingredients and then baked in an oven. The resulting baked pasta is cut into single-serving square portions.
6. Parmigiana
Parmigiana, also called parmigiana di melanzane or eggplant parmesan, is an Italian dish made with fried, sliced eggplant layered with cheese and tomato sauce, then baked. The origin of the dish is claimed by the Southern regions of Calabria, Campania, and Sicily. Other variations found outside Italy may include chicken, veal, or another type of meat cutlet or vegetable filling.
5. Arancini
Arancini are Italian rice balls that are stuffed, coated with bread crumbs and deep fried. Arancini are a staple of Sicilian cuisine. The most common fillings are: al ragù or al sugo, filled with ragù (meat or mince, slow-cooked at low temperature with tomato sauce and spices), mozzarella or caciocavallo cheese, and often peas, and al burro or ô burru, filled with ham and mozzarella or besciamella.
4. Bolognese sauce
Bolognese sauce known in Italian as ragù alla bolognese, is a meat-based sauce in Italian cuisine, typical of the city of Bologna. It is customarily used to dress tagliatelle al ragù and to prepare lasagne alla bolognese.
3. Cacio e pepe
Cacio e pepe is a pasta dish from the cuisine of the city of Rome. Cacio e pepe means “cheese and pepper” in several central Italian dialects. As the name suggests, the ingredients of the dish are: black pepper, grated Pecorino Romano cheese, and spaghetti, or traditionally tonnarelli.
2. Fettuccine Alfredo
Fettuccine Alfredo is an Italian pasta dish of fresh fettuccine tossed with butter and Parmesan cheese. As the cheese melts, it emulsifies the liquids to form a smooth and rich cheese sauce coating the pasta. The dish is named after Alfredo di Lelio, who featured the dish at his restaurant in Rome in the early to mid-20th century; the “ceremony” of preparing it tableside was an integral part of the dish.
1. Pizza
Finally, the best of all, pizza. Pizza is a dish of Italian origin consisting of a usually round, flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomatoes, cheese, and often various other ingredients (such as anchovies, mushrooms, onions, olives, vegetables, meat, ham, etc.), which is then baked at a high temperature, traditionally in a wood-fired oven. A small pizza is sometimes called a pizzetta. A person who makes pizza is known as a pizzaiolo.
