Classic Italian recipes that taste as authentic as if you were really there, able to travel and revel in the traditions of the Italian countryside, including homemade pasta, pesto, braised chicken, and other predominantly frugal recipes that taste anything but cheap.
Brodo di Pollo ~ Italian Chicken Soup
Brodo di pollo is, in essence, Italian chicken soup. And it's a strong contender for the most soothing chicken noodle soup anywhere. Made by nonnas everywhere.
Homemade Pasta Dough
Pasta made fresh according to Italian tradition is unspeakably more supple, satisfying, and gratifying than the dried-out store-bought stuff and will make your mouth water. Here's how to make it at home.
Chicken Piccata
Ever heard that little ditty, "Winner, winner, chicken dinner?" We like to think of it as "Winner, winner, chicken piccata dinner."
Pesto Genovese
A spoon-it-straight-from-the-jar-and-slather-it-on-everything sauce with the taste of tradition, the seduction of sophistication.
Minestrone Soup
An updated Italian classic made with all the usual suspects along with an unexpected drizzle of pesto that turns a frugal veggie-bin catch-all into something truly astounding.
Pork Loin in the Style of Porchetta
A mashup of two Italian classics—arista and porchetta—that's essentially pork roast stuffed with rosemary and more ground pork. Ridiculously easy to make. And even easier to devour.
Homemade Cavatelli
Yes, you can make your own pasta. And no, you don't need a pasta maker, thanks to this recipe. All you need is flour, olive oil, and salt.
Italian-Style Braised Chicken in Wine
This rustic classic is infused with that Italian charm that transforms everyday ingredients into something that's both insanely comforting yet seemingly luxurious.
Red Sauce ~ Sugo di Pomodoro
"Simple, quick, and delicious." "Elegant." "It sure as heck is good." That's what folks are saying about this easy weeknight supper.
Ciabatta
Every once in a while, along comes a loaf of bread that's so rustic, so memorable, it ruins every other bread experience. Here's that loaf.
Spinach with Raisins and Pine Nuts
When prepared simply yet perfectly as here, this classic side dish will leave a lingering memory of just how lovely something healthy can be.
Tuscan Roast Pork
An Italian classic. Pork loin is rubbed with an intoxicating blend of garlic, rosemary, and sage and then slowly roasted until sigh-inducingly tender. Easy, elegant and certain to impress.
Burrata with Grilled Bread
This is less a recipe and more a reminder as to the fact that some nights, simple cheese and bread and olive oil makes a perfectly respectable—enviable, even—supper.
Homemade Tomato Paste
Never again tussle with that teensy tin can that always contains too much or too little paste for your recipe. Not with this mellow, caramelized homemade conserva.
Pane Francese
Looks like a baguette, tastes like a ciabatta. This northern Italian bread is crusty and chewy and all sorts of incredible.
Beef Stew with Red Wine
An Italian tradition that, in true form, transforms simple ingredients into something sublime.
Sautéed Spinach with Bread Crumbs
That frugal Italian trick of adding buttery bread crumbs to just about anything to make it more enticing works its considerable charms here. Swoon.
Pasta Puttanesca
Just like the women for whom it's named, this pasta puttanesca recipe is edgy, spicy, and more than a little sassy. Gets the job done in a hurry, too.
Marcella Hazan's Bolognese Sauce
Is anything more soothing than standing before a burbling pot of Marcella Hazan's Bolognese sauce? (Hint: Our answer is absolutely not.)
Ligurian Almond Cake
A remarkably—and deceptively—simple that cake boasts an understated elegance that befits this frugal and classic Italian dessert.
Italian Onion Soup ~ Licurdia
This 4-ingredient Italian onion soup is just as humble, frugal, and soothing as its more commonly known French kin.
Pasta alla Norma
We've tasted a lot of pasta alla Norma recipes in our day, and we gotta say, after trying this one, we're calling it quits on our search for the perfect recipe. Because this is it.
Tuscan Style Roast Leg of Lamb
Made in traditional Italian fashion with a garlic, rosemary, lemon, and olive oil marinade and then roasted until perfectly tender. Perfect for easy, elegant holiday entertaining.
Panna Cotta
Panna cotta translates to “cooked cream,” which really doesn’t do justice to this creamy as sin, subtly flavored, lightly sweetened, sublime Italian classic.
Homemade Guanciale
Yes, you can make your own silken, creamy, intensely satiating cured pork at home. Without access to an estate in Italy. Here’s how.
Broccoli Rabe with Roasted Garlic
Americans may not know how to pronounce broccoli rabe, but Italians sure know how to cook it. Here's how they do it. Er, prego.
Homemade Potato Gnocchi
Four ingredients. Ridiculously easy. Wonderfully inexpensive. And, quite frankly, the best gnocchi we've ever experienced.
Beef Braised in Barolo
Cold outside? Baby, come inside where there's beef slowly braising in a heady mix of Italian red wine, garlic, tomatoes, thyme, and rosemary.
Focaccia with Red Onion and Rosemary
We've been hearing a lot of our recipe testers who've tried this focaccia rave about it as "perfect." We ain't arguing.
Homemade Pancetta
Pancetta is simply unsmoked bacon—aka pork belly—cured with salt and seasonings. And now you can DIY it.
Italian Breadsticks ~ Grissini Torinesi
Most Americans know grissini as those pale breadsticks in the long waxen envelopes at old-time Italian restaurants. How sad for us. Perhaps we can do something about that.
Grape Focaccia
A Tuscan tradition we learned from Italian winemakers that's essentially flatbread baked with grapes that turn magnificently jammy and sweet and lovely.
Fritto Misto Amalfitano
So long, soggy calamari. This low-temp approach defies common deep-frying logic yet ensures a crisp crust and tender seafood. And if you've yet to experience fried lemons, just wait.
Pasta Soup with Potatoes and Pancetta
This good old-fashioned soup has a frugal heartiness once needed by day laborers. And a satiating subtleness now appreciated by foodies.
Affogato
Drowning gelato in espresso has got to be the most spectacular sort of tragedy ever to take place at the dinner table. Here's how to add a little drama to your dessert.
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