Travel Europe Italy 34 Italian Food Recipes By Food & Wine Editors Updated on November 17, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: © Pernille Pedersen Bring a taste of Italy to your kitchen with these fantastic Italian recipes. From easy ravioli to crisp-skinned porchetta, these dishes are full of flavor and perfect for your family dinner or party. Try one of these amazing dishes tonight. 01 of 34 Bucatini Carbonara © Anna Williams Italian carbonara is famously rich, combining pancetta or guanciale (cured pork jowl), egg yolks and cheese. Chef Linton Hopkins adds his own Southern accent to the dish with house-cured pork and local eggs. Get the Recipe 02 of 34 Herbed Fazzoletti with Asparagus and Burrata © Con Poulos Creamy burrata cheese and tender asparagus pair well in this elegant pasta dish. Get the Recipe 03 of 34 Chicken alla Diavola © Dana Gallagher Salvatore Denaro's pollo alla diavola ("devil's-style chicken") is intensely seasoned. Two days prior to cooking, Denaro infuses white wine vinegar with a big bunch of dried Sicilian oregano for a marinade. Then he seasons the marinated chicken with an exotic herb mixture, or condimento, that includes Turkish bay laurel ("the only kind to use," Denaro says) and myrtle leaves. Feel free to experiment with a variety of herbs for the condimento. Get the Recipe 04 of 34 Eggplant Caponata with Golden Raisins © Michael Turek As a nod to the grape harvest, chef Ben Towill adds golden raisins to this tangy caponata. It's delicious on toast or with pecorino cheese. Get the Recipe 05 of 34 Sardinian Stuffed Eggplant Quentin Bacon Efisio Farris, the executive chef at Arcodoro in Houston, says that his mother used only eggplants from the first pick of the season (le primizie) for this dish because of their supple texture and earthy-sweet flavor without a hint of bitterness. But if you don't have the primizie option, you should seek out firm, heavy eggplants with smooth, evenly colored skin. Check for ripeness by pressing them lightly; if this leaves an imprint, the eggplant is ready to use. Get the Recipe 06 of 34 Spinach and Ricotta Gnudi with Tomato-Butter Sauce © Catherine Ledner Former Gotham Bldg Tavern chef Tommy Habetz describes gnudi as "ravioli filling without the pasta." He learned how to make his outrageously light and creamy version while working at the former New York City restaurant Pó. Get the Recipe 07 of 34 Toasted Pistachio-Cheese Arancini © Ditte Isager This recipe for arancini — fried risotto balls — comes from Renato Poliafito, who got it from his Sicilian cousin Emanuele Sanfilippo. "Renato is obsessed with arancini," says Matt Lewis, "especially this version with toasted pistachios." These arancini are the size of tangerines, filled with creamy, cheesy rice, studded with nuts and green peas and encased in a great crunchy crust. Get the Recipe 08 of 34 Autumn Fritto Misto © John Kernick Antonio Ciminelli prepares this starter year-round with whatever produce is in season. In the fall, that means apples, mushrooms and late-harvest zucchini, fried in a batter made extra-light and crisp by adding sparkling wine and whipped egg white. The fritto misto is best eaten hot from the pan, perhaps served in a paper cone. Get the Recipe 09 of 34 Beef Brasato with Pappardelle and Mint © TINA RUPP Chef Chris Cosentino braises beef shank and oxtail in red wine to make a brasato he serves with housemade mint pappardelle. Instead of oxtail, this dish uses just beef shank. Fresh pappardelle from a store replaces the housemade kind. Get the Recipe 10 of 34 Mozzarella with Summer Squash and Olive Puree © Con Poulos This dish, from chef Mathieu Perez is a take on the classic Italian mozzarella-tomato-basil Caprese salad. It depends on young, very fresh zucchini and summer squash. To prepare the recipe like Perez does at the restaurant, grate the olives finely with a Microplane grater instead of pureeing them. Get the Recipe 11 of 34 Baked Eggs en Cocotte with Basil © Fredrika Stjärne These baked eggs topped with melted butter are Piero Incisa della Rocchetta's go-to breakfast. The dish was also a favorite of his grandfather Mario, the founder of Italy's world-famous Sassicaia winery in Tuscany. Get the Recipe 12 of 34 Tuscan-Style Veal Chops © James Baigrie "Grill masters all over the world have noticed that when you grill a piece of meat and then anoint it with some kind of fat, it mixes with the meat juices and creates instant sauce," Steven Raichlen says. In Tuscany, olive oil is the fat of choice for finishing herbed veal chops like these. Get the Recipe 13 of 34 Chickpea Panelle with Goat Cheese and Salsa Rustica © John Kernick Traditional panelle, the popular Sicilian chickpea fritter, is deep-fried. Melissa Kelly forms her panelle onto a sheet, lightly sprinkles it with goat cheese and bakes it. Then she cuts the panelle into pieces and sautés them until they're crisp. Get the Recipe 14 of 34 Pecorino Ravioli with Walnuts and Marjoram © Quentin Bacon In adapting this recipe from chef Shea Gallante, Marcia Kiesel traded a labor-intensive fresh pasta for premade wonton wrappers and was thrilled with the results. Wonton wrappers are milder-tasting than fresh pasta, which makes them a better showcase for the nutty brown butter, delicate young pecorino cheese and fresh marjoram. Get the Recipe 15 of 34 Butter Beans in Miso Bagna Cauda © Quentin Bacon Creamy butter beans get flavor from a miso dressing in this terrific vegetarian dish . Get the Recipe 16 of 34 Chocolate-and-Pistachio Biscotti © John Kernick Kevin Sbraga varies these wonderful nutty biscotti, sometimes dipping them in melted dark chocolate for an extra layer of flavor. Get the Recipe 17 of 34 Antipasto Salad © John Kernick This simple green salad is a refreshing antipasto, or appetizer. Get the Recipe 18 of 34 Ricotta Gnudi with Chanterelles © SARA REMINGTON These tender gnudi, adapted from Nancy Silverton's Mozza Cookbook, are delicious with buttery chanterelles. Get the Recipe 19 of 34 Grilled Mackerel with Sicilian Caper-Tomato Salsa © John Kernick "Give mackerel a chance," begs Michael White. The Spanish fish he imports from Europe is grilled, which makes the skin enticingly crisp, then topped with a refreshing tomato-caper salsa. Get the Recipe 20 of 34 Rabbit Stew with Olives and Rosemary © John Kernick "This is one of my favorite things on the planet," says Marco Canora about his savory rabbit stew. He loves sharing the recipe with his students because it's an opportunity to teach them about making battuto (similar to soffrito), a mixture of sautéed onion, celery and carrots that's the base for many Italian dishes. Get the Recipe 21 of 34 Pizza Vesuvio with the Works © Anson Smart This half-pizza, half-calzone is named for Italy's Mount Vesuvius. Get the Recipe 22 of 34 Jam-Filled Mezzaluna Cookies © Marie Hennechart Using a recipe Nancy Silverton taught her for a super-buttery dough, chef Dahlia Narvaez made vanilla-scented cookies shaped like mezzaluna ("half moon") pasta and filled them with a mixed-berry jam she found in Panicale. Get the Recipe 23 of 34 Porcini Risotto © James Merrell Daniel Humm's exceptionally easy risotto gets a sublime earthiness from fresh and dried porcini mushrooms. Get the Recipe 24 of 34 Italian Seafood Stew © John Kernick In this luscious, tomato-rich stew, Marco Canora cooks calamari slowly until it becomes supertender. He says calamari is absolutely essential to the success of the dish, because it releases its liquid as it simmers, which adds a huge amount of flavor to the sauce. "I'm a big fan of substitutions," he says, "but not in this case." Get the Recipe 25 of 34 Farro Salad with Fried Cauliflower and Prosciutto © Kana Okada Cooks in Italy fry cauliflower to bring out its nuttiness. Here, Ethan Stowell deep-fries it for a salad with salty prosciutto and nubby farro (a variety of whole-grain wheat). Get the Recipe 26 of 34 Easy Ravioli © Antonis Achilleos "Always err on the side of making ravioli dough a little bit sticky," Domenica Marchetti says. "You can sprinkle on more flour as you roll it out." Get the Recipe 27 of 34 Free-Form Sausage-and-Three-Cheese Lasagna © Quentin Bacon The style of this gooey lasagna is called free-form because the pasta can be arranged in different ways — for instance, folded over the filling — instead of traditionally layered. Get the Recipe 28 of 34 Vanilla Zabaglione with Raspberries © Stephanie Shih The ethereal Italian dessert sauce zabaglione (known in French as sabayon) consists of egg yolks beaten with sugar and the Sicilian fortified dessert wine Marsala. Steeping vanilla seeds in the Marsala adds lovely flavor; folding in whipped cream increases the decadence factor. Get the Recipe 29 of 34 Spinach-and-Sausage-Stuffed Peppers © Quentin Bacon "I may never use ground meat in my peppers again," said Fran Parisi, Grace Parisi's mother, when she tried this super-flavorful sausage-stuffed version. Another revelation: Smaller Italian frying peppers are much easier to brown in a skillet than the typical green bell peppers, and they also cook faster. Get the Recipe 30 of 34 Frozen Chocolate-Chip Meringata © Martin Morrell Meringata — Italian for "meringue cake" — is an elegant yet homey frozen dessert of whipped cream sandwiched between meringue rounds. Rolando Beramendi slices the meringata and serves it with a warm chocolate-espresso sauce. Get the Recipe 31 of 34 Chicken Parmesan with Pepperoni © Quentin Bacon Chef Bryan Vietmeier merges two Italian-American favorites here: chicken parm and pepperoni. Get the Recipe 32 of 34 Gorgonzola, Fig, and Pancetta Pizza © Anson Smart This sweet and salty pizza is topped with salty pancetta, gorgonzola, and juicy fresh figs. Get the Recipe 33 of 34 Chocolate Panna Cotta with Spiced Pepita Brittle © Con Poulos This light, silky panna cotta tastes a lot like hot cocoa in custard form. The brittle is easy to make; heat sugar and water on the stove, swirl in butter and spiced pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds), then let cool. Get the Recipe 34 of 34 Italian Wedding Soup © Pernille Pedersen Former F&W editor Grace Parisi prefers real minestra maritata (Italian wedding soup). She makes tiny pork meatballs and simmers them with orzo, chickpeas, spinach, and parmesan. She occasionally substitutes green beans for the spinach, depending on who is at the table. Get the Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit