Italian cuisine is proof that a handful of good ingredients makes a feast. Pasta, pizza, risotto, crisp focaccia, and creamy tiramisu — nothing complicated, all about quality and flavor. Find quick weeknight dishes alongside recipes worth taking your time over, Tuscan-style.
Quick answer
The staples are pasta in every form, pizza, risotto, gnocchi, and soups like minestrone. For sweets there's tiramisu, panna cotta, and cantuccini. Italians rely on a few quality ingredients — good olive oil, tomatoes, parmesan, and fresh herbs.
Spaghetti allo scarpariello: a quick neapolitan classic
Quick zucchini and lemon pasta
Asparagus spaghetti – quick and easy
Panna cotta: a simple italian dessert ready in no time
Panna cotta
Veal saltimbocca – rolls with prosciutto and sage
Squid ink spaghetti with sun-dried tomatoes and mozzarella
Creamy risotto with turkey roulade, spinach and gran moravia cheese
Panzanella – italian bread salad
Asparagus spaghetti – easy and quick
Grissini – homemade italian breadsticks
Gnocchi with butternut squash noodles, sage and italian salsiccia
Sugo bolognese – the beloved bolognese sauce
Spaghetti carbonara – an italian classic
Quick summer pasta with salmon
Raspberry tiramisu
Tiramisu cupcakes – an italian dessert with a twist
Halibut with italian risotto and spinach
Homemade potato gnocchi
Cantuccini – italian almond biscuits
Real italian risotto: radim gerlich's recipe
Amazing homemade focaccia – easy italian bread
Italian tomato soup with legumes
Pappardelle with asparagus
Reach for pasta — aglio e olio, cacio e pepe, or a tomato sauce are ready in 20 minutes. All you need is good pasta, olive oil, and a little parmesan.
Good olive oil, pasta, canned tomatoes, garlic, parmesan, and fresh basil. With that base you can cook most Italian classics.
Boil it in a big pot of well-salted water for a minute or two less than the package says, and keep tasting. Before you drain, save a cup of the water — that starchy liquid binds the sauce to the pasta beautifully.
It doesn't. Real carbonara is eggs, pecorino, guanciale or pancetta, and freshly ground pepper — the creaminess comes from the yolk and a splash of pasta water. Save the cream for panna cotta.