Italian food is full of sauces, pastas, and cheeses. It is comfort food at its core. These filling dishes bring people together!
Starters and Sides
Focaccia Bread
This bread pairs perfectly with pasta and other saucy Italian dishes! And it can be used to make delectable sandwiches! Focaccia is a common style of oven-baked flat bread in Italian cuisine. It was thought to have originated from the Etruscan people. The Etruscans ran a civilization in ancient Italy starting around 900 BC. Focaccia…
Garlic Knots
Bring the taste of a favorite pizzeria appetizer right to your kitchen! Garlic knots are mainly found at pizzerias around the United States. They are typically made from scraps of bread or pizza dough, covered in oil, herbs, and cheese then baked. Many people like to dip them in marinara sauce or use them to…
Shareable Rosemary Bread
Rosemary bread is super simple and easy to make! It will complement many meals deliciously. This recipe makes two loaves so make one for you and one for a friend! It may be hard to believe, but I was a very picky eater when I was little. I still ate what was put in front…
Main Dishes
Simple Alfredo Pasta
This creamy pasta dish is a family favorite! Alfredo sauce was created by a chef named Alfredo di Lelio in 1914. He ran a restaurant on Via della Scrofa in Rome, Italy. He tossed fresh-made pasta together with butter and Parmesan cheese, for his wife to eat, to help her with nausea during a pregnancy.…
Baked Ragu Bolognese Pasta
This pasta dish is simple and delectable! Slowly building the flavors in the sauce makes the taste more satisfying! Ragu Bolognese is a meat-based sauce that comes from Bologna, Italy. The first published recipe of ragu bolognese was in Pellegrino Artusi’s 1891 cookbook La scienza in cucina e l’arte di mangiare bane (The Science of…
White Pizza (Pizza Bianca)
No red sauce? No problem! A fun vegetarian pizza recipe! Our modern idea of pizza originates from Naples, Italy. Pizza was a flat bread that was covered with various toppings and eaten as an inexpensive meal. It was sold at informal restaurants and by street vendors. Pizza usually featured garnishes like garlic, anchovies, tomatoes, oil,…
Carbonara
Turn simple every day ingredients into a luscious pasta meal! Carbonara is a pasta dish that includes eggs, cured pork, cheese, and black pepper. It originates from Rome, Italy and came to be in its most modern form during the mid 20th century. Carbonara is typically made with spaghetti pasta, but bucatini, fettuccine, and linguine…
Easy Beef and Spinach Lasagna
Lasagna can definitely please a crowd! Just layer the ingredients, bake, and serve! Lasagna is a baked pasta that has many layers. It originates from Naples, Italy and was created during the Middle Ages. The original Naples dish was layered with wide pasta, sausage, hard boiled eggs, sauce, and different cheeses. The different regions of…
Pasta all’Amatriciana
This pasta dish has a velvety spicy sauce, and the guanciale gives it a lovely pork flavor! It is easy to make and your guests will be impressed! This dish is named after the town of Amatrice in Italy. Amatrice is in the mountainous region in Province of Rieti of Lazio, it is about 87…
Genovese Basil Pesto
Pesto is very versatile! It tastes great on pasta, meat, and bread! Pesto Alla Genovese was invented in Genoa, Italy. Genoa is a region in Northern Italy. Pesto was created during the 16th century. The name comes from the Genoese word “pesta” which means to crush or pound. This refers to the fact that the…
Baked Chicken Parmesan
This restaurant favorite is typically fried, but baking Chicken Parmesan will cut down on grease while still maintaining flavor! The dish, pollo alla parmigiana or Chicken Parmesan, was actually invented in the United States, not Italy. Chicken Parmesan is a variation on a traditional Sicilian dish, parmigiana di melanzane or Eggplant Parmesan. When immigrants from…
Sausage and Peppers
This simple dish is such a treat! Make it for parties or for a hearty lunch! Sausage and peppers is an Italian-American dish. The primary ingredients are Italian sausage and bell peppers. The dish can be eaten as a stand alone dish, it can be served with pasta, or made into a sandwich. There are…
Baked Beef Meatballs with Pasta (Spaghetti and Meatballs)
This classic comfort food is beloved by all! Make it for friends, family, and children! It is super easy to cook. Despite what most people assume, spaghetti and meatballs did not originate in Italy. There is a spaghetti pasta and there are meatballs in Italy, but the popular dish is not something one of would…
Desserts
Tiramisu
A cake that is easy to make, and no baking required! This recipe has no raw eggs, but is still full of flavor! Tiramisu comes from Veneto, Italy. It is a cake that is made from mascarpone cheese, eggs, sugar, ladyfinger cookies (savoiardi) dipped in coffee, and topped with cocoa powder. The origin of tiramisu’s…
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