Italian cuisine is celebrated worldwide for its simplicity, fresh ingredients, and regional diversity.
1. Pizza Margherita (Naples)
The quintessential Neapolitan pizza, named after Queen Margherita in 1889. It features a thin, chewy crust topped with San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, and olive oil—representing the Italian flag’s colors.
Key Ingredients (for 2 pizzas):
• Dough: 500g “00” flour, 325ml water, 10g salt, 3g yeast.
• Toppings: 200g canned San Marzano tomatoes, 200g mozzarella di bufala, fresh basil, extra-virgin olive oil.
Steps:
1. Mix dough ingredients; knead 10 minutes; let rise 8–24 hours.
2. Stretch into 12-inch rounds.
3. Crush tomatoes by hand; spread thinly. Add torn mozzarella.
4. Bake at 450–500°C (or highest home oven) for 60–90 seconds until charred edges form. Drizzle oil and add basil post-bake.
2. Spaghetti Carbonara (Rome)
A creamy pasta without cream—egg yolks, guanciale (cured pork jowl), Pecorino Romano, and black pepper create the silky sauce.
Key Ingredients (4 servings):
• 400g spaghetti, 150g guanciale, 4 egg yolks, 100g Pecorino, black pepper.
Steps:
1. Crisp guanciale in a pan; reserve fat.
2. Boil pasta al dente; reserve 1 cup pasta water.
3. Off heat, toss pasta with guanciale, fat, and cheese. Add yolks and water gradually for emulsion. Season generously with pepper.
3. Lasagne alla Bolognese (Emilia-Romagna)
Layers of fresh pasta, slow-cooked ragù (meat sauce), béchamel, and Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Key Ingredients (6–8 servings):
• Ragù: 300g beef, 150g pancetta, soffritto (onion, carrot, celery), tomato paste, milk, wine.
• 300g fresh pasta sheets, béchamel (butter, flour, milk), 200g Parmigiano.
Steps:
1. Simmer ragù 3+ hours until rich.
2. Make béchamel; layer with ragù and pasta in a dish.
3. Top with cheese; bake at 180°C for 40 minutes until golden.
4. Risotto alla Milanese (Lombardy)
Creamy arborio rice infused with saffron and beef marrow, finished with Parmigiano.
Key Ingredients (4 servings):
• 320g arborio rice, 1.5L hot beef stock, 50g marrow/onion, pinch saffron, 80g butter, 100g Parmigiano.
Steps:
1. Toast rice in marrow and onion.
2. Add wine; then ladle stock gradually, stirring 18 minutes.
3. Stir in saffron, butter, and cheese off heat for mantecatura (creamy finish).
5. Osso Buco (Milan)
Braised veal shanks in white wine and vegetables, served with gremolata (parsley, lemon, garlic) and often risotto.
Key Ingredients (4 servings):
• 4 veal shanks, flour, onion/celery/carrot, white wine, broth, tomatoes.
Steps:
1. Dredge and brown shanks.
2. Sauté vegetables; deglaze with wine.
3. Braise covered at 160°C for 2 hours until fork-tender. Sprinkle gremolata before serving.
6. Pesto Genovese (Liguria)
Fresh basil sauce from Genoa, traditionally pounded in a mortar; toss with trofie or trenette pasta.
Key Ingredients (for 400g pasta):
• 50g basil leaves, 50g Parmigiano, 30g pine nuts, 1 garlic clove, 100ml Ligurian olive oil, pinch salt.
Steps:
1. Pound basil, garlic, nuts, and salt in mortar (or pulse in processor).
2. Add cheeses; stream in oil.
3. Dilute with pasta water; toss with boiled pasta and potatoes/green beans for authenticity.
7. Tiramisù (Veneto)
“No-bake” dessert of coffee-soaked savoiardi biscuits, mascarpone custard, and cocoa.
Key Ingredients (6 servings):
• 300g savoiardi, 500g mascarpone, 4 eggs, 100g sugar, strong coffee, cocoa powder, optional Marsala.
Steps:
1. Whip yolks with sugar; fold in mascarpone. Beat whites to peaks; fold in.
2. Dip biscuits in coffee; layer with cream in a dish.
3. Chill 4+ hours; dust with cocoa.
8. Tagliatelle al Ragù (Bologna)
The true “spaghetti bolognese”—fresh egg pasta with meat ragù (no garlic or herbs overload).
Key Ingredients (4 servings):
• 400g fresh tagliatelle (flour + eggs), ragù as in lasagne.
Steps:
1. Prepare ragù (3-hour simmer).
2. Roll and cut pasta dough.
3. Boil 1–2 minutes; toss with ragù and Parmigiano. Serve without additional cheese on top traditionally.
9. Parmigiana di Melanzane (Southern Italy, esp. Campania/Sicily)
Baked eggplant slices layered with tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil, and Parmigiano.
Key Ingredients (6 servings):
• 1kg eggplants, 700ml passata, 300g mozzarella, basil, 150g Parmigiano.
Steps:
1. Slice, salt, and fry/grill eggplants.
2. Layer in dish: sauce, eggplant, cheeses, basil.
3. Bake at 180°C for 30–40 minutes until bubbly.
10. Gelato (Italy-wide, artisanal)
Denser than ice cream due to slower churning and less air; classic flavors like stracciatella or pistachio.
Key Ingredients (1L, base for flavors):
• 500ml whole milk, 150ml cream, 150g sugar, 4 yolks (custard base).
Steps:
1. Heat milk; temper into yolk-sugar mix. Cook to 82°C.
2. Cool; add flavor (e.g., melted chocolate for stracciatella).
3. Churn in ice cream maker 20–30 minutes. Freeze 2+ hours.
