Italian Recipes
1418 recipes found
Pasta and Lentils (Pasta e Lenticchie)
This classic Neapolitan dish’s heartiness comes from cooking pasta with lentils so that the starches thicken the liquid into something creamier and richer than a basic lentil soup. There are many versions of this peasant food, including ones with pancetta, carrots, parsley or Parmesan rinds; some also use a hodgepodge of pasta shapes from half-empty boxes — it’s a true pantry meal. Brown lentils will fall apart more quickly than green, but they’ll create a luscious sauce either way. Stir the pasta often, especially towards the end of cooking, and add more water if the pot is dry (the sauce will thicken as it cools). Leftovers will keep for up to 3 days refrigerated; warm over low heat and add water to loosen.
Riso al Forno With Crab and Shrimp
For a casually elegant dinner, this rice casserole fits the bill for a crowd-pleasing main course. It’s generous in the kind of meat you use and its timing: You can use any kind of shellfish, including shrimp or lobster, and you don’t serve it directly from the pot, so there’s no urgency. You can cook the rice and fold in the shellfish up to 2 hours in advance of serving, then top with shrimp and crumbs, and bake.
Arancini
There’s no way around it: To make arancini, you have to make risotto, although you could also use any kind of leftover risotto, as long as the mixture isn’t loose from excess liquid. This recipe employs a simple base of Parmesan risotto that is chilled, rolled, breaded and fried, but the classic version starts with saffron risotto, which explains the Italian name arancine, or little oranges, named for their shape and hue. Simmering risotto and frying the arancini are simple tasks, but the step in between is crucial: Do not skimp on chilling your risotto. If it is not properly chilled, it will fall apart in the hot oil instead of forming crisp, glistening, orbs filled with molten cheese. Serve these arancini with warmed tomato sauce or even pesto, and crown them with a flurry of gremolata or plain lemon zest for brightness.
Risotto
Creamy and complex, classic risotto requires only a handful of simple ingredients to transform into a luxurious meal. In this most basic version, the dish is finished with just enough butter and Parmigiano-Reggiano to add rich creaminess while still allowing the rice flavor and texture to shine. Though it’s delicious on its own, this dish can serve as a blank canvas. For quick, easy upgrades, stir in 1 cup of frozen peas or 1 pound of cleaned shrimp during the last few minutes of cooking, or top the risotto with whatever cooked seasonal vegetables you desire.
Italian Hero Sandwich
Italian hero, sub, hoagie, grinder — this classic sandwich has many names, and every deli makes it differently. Its deliciousness lies in the proportion of rich-and-fatty ingredients to spicy-and-crunchy ones. For optimal structure and texture, start with crusty rolls with pillowy insides (or toast soft rolls). Use two to four types of cured meat for a range of umami, and plenty of lettuce and pickles to counterbalance them. Then assemble wisely: Shingle the meat and cheese across the rolls, then top with pickles, onions and dressed lettuce. Once put together, the wet ingredients are wrapped in meat so they’re held in place and the bread doesn’t get soggy. Wrap with parchment or wax paper for tidier eating and transporting.
Torta Rustica With Ricotta and Spinach
Torta rustica (also called pizza rustica) is a rich, ricotta-stuffed pie that’s traditionally baked for Easter in Southern Italy. This version includes greens (either spinach or chard) for color and freshness. The ham is optional; feel free to leave it out, or substitute chopped olives or sundried tomatoes if you’re looking for a similar savory bite. The crust, adapted from Nancy Harmon Jenkins’s 2007 cookbook, “Cucina del Sole,” is sturdy and slightly sweet, which makes a nice contrast to the salty filling. (For more on producing a lattice-style crust, see our How to Make Pie Crust guide.)
Broccoli Rabe Lasagna
Broccoli rabe (sometimes spelled raab, or known as rapini greens) is one of the most delicious members of the mustard green family. The leaves, tender stems and broccoli-like buds have a distinctive pleasant bitterness when cooked. For this vegetarian lasagna, some of the cooked greens are puréed to make a garlicky pesto and the rest is coarsely chopped and added to the layers. Find more lasagna recipes.
Pork and Ricotta Meatballs
Ricotta is the secret to tenderness in these all-purpose meatballs. Serve them plain, with a marinara sauce for dipping, or simmer the meatballs in tomato sauce for serving over spaghetti. Ground chicken is a great alternative and will yield cheesier tasting meatballs.
Spinach Lasagna
Equal parts indulgent and virtuous, this meatless lasagna from Mark Bittman will please everyone at the table. Serve it with a green salad on a weeknight, or alongside a platter of meatballs for Sunday dinner. And listen: We won't tell anyone if you use no-boil noodles or frozen spinach. It's all good either way.
Muffuletta
Here is The Times’s take on a classic New Orleans sandwich, built between slices of light, airy sesame bread, and layered thick with olive salad and cold cuts. It is among the best picnic sandwiches on the planet.
Italian Broccoli Salad
This adaptable make-ahead salad is a great instant lunch or side dish. It starts with raw broccoli florets and stems, thinly sliced into irregular shapes to create many textures. As the broccoli sits with salt and vinegar, it softens and becomes slaw. Its mellow flavor is contrasted by the loud ingredients typically found in an Italian sub or chopped salad, like shallots, pickled peppers, olives and provolone. Feel free to add more protein in the form of cured meats, chickpeas, lentils or mozzarella; vegetables like sweet tomatoes or iceberg lettuce; or basil.
Giardiniera
Making giardiniera (pronounced jar-deen-YAIR-uh and Italian for “from the garden”) is a tradition in many Italian American households, but it does not require the work you might expect of a long-handed-down custom. This is preserving with no lids to seal; it takes only an hour or so of preparation and two or three days of waiting, and keeps in the refrigerator for weeks. In many ways, what follows is more technique than recipe, with flexibility to suit your mood or tastes. If you love carrots, add more. Or introduce zucchini, eggplant, onions or green beans. If you want it extra-spicy, add more serranos, red pepper flakes or even a bird’s-eye chile. Chop the vegetables uniformly so that the brine will work its magic evenly: mincing makes a great relish for a hot dog, while larger pieces are better for a side dish.
Vegan Bolognese With Mushrooms and Walnuts
Some may balk at this version of Bolognese, the classic Italian ragù, because it bypasses the meat and dairy that are traditionally integral to the dish. But this recipe is equally rich, robust and complex, owing to seared mushrooms and toasted walnuts, which are bolstered by balsamic vinegar, tomato paste, soy sauce and Marmite. A popular British sandwich spread made from concentrated yeast extract, Marmite brings salty, bitter notes to the sauce, but you can substitute a vegetable bouillon concentrate paste — or skip it entirely. Enjoy the sauce over cooked pasta or employ it in this vegetarian lasagna Bolognese.
Spaghettini With Bottarga and Colatura
In the Middle Ages, monks on Italy’s Amalfi Coast were tasked with preserving anchovies, the local catch. They discovered that the amber liquid exuded by the aging fish — colatura di alici, literally “anchovy drippings” — could be used as a briny seasoning. Nodding to this tradition, the chef Diego Rossi, at the acclaimed trattoria Trippa in Milan, unites colatura and bottarga di muggine (cured gray mullet roe) in a pasta that is powerfully marine. The sauce isn’t cooked: Instead, he lets the ingredients — bottarga, yellow tomato sauce, colatura, basil, garlic, lemon and chile — melt among the strands of hot spaghettini. The sweetness of the tomato tempers the bitterness of the bottarga. (It’s best to make the pasta in single servings, to control that bitterness, and to eat it immediately.) The umami is everywhere, in the bottarga, the tomato, and, delicate yet insistent, the colatura, calling back to a remembered sea.
Creamy Vegan Polenta
While traditional Italian polenta is typically finished with butter and grated Parmesan, the porridge-like texture of simmered cornmeal makes for a dish that’s creamy and comforting without dairy. This recipe uses a few tablespoons of vegan butter (any kind will do) to lend richness, and substitutes nutritional yeast for Parmesan. Use the nutritional yeast sparingly: The right amount beautifully mimics the nutty, fragrant flavor of Parmesan, but use too much, and it can overpower. This dish is a versatile side, but can easily be turned into a main, like this creamy vegan polenta with mushrooms and kale, with the addition of sautéed or roasted vegetables.
Chocolate Chile Biscotti
The word “biscotti” comes from the Latin biscoctus, or twice cooked: The dough is rolled into logs and given a spell in the oven, then cooled, sliced and slotted back in to bake a little more. The second turn in the oven essentially sucks them dry and gives them that signature crunch. Too much crunch, however, and they can be a little flinty. The pastry chef Mark Sopchak makes biscotti that are shorter and narrower — “Biscottini!” an Italian passerby once said — and ever so slightly softer, with the addition of butter. These cookies are thin enough to snap smartly under the teeth and then obligingly crumble. Inspired in part by Mexican mole, they have a touch of creaminess from cashews and a wild streak of chile powder, just enough to make you hum.
Cheesy Baked Pasta With Sausage and Ricotta
Like a cross between baked ziti and sausage lasagna, this mozzarella-topped pasta is rich with ricotta and crushed tomatoes — and cooks entirely in one pan, including the pasta. The Italian sausage adds meaty depth to the sauce, but vegetarians can leave it out or use their favorite plant-based sausage instead.
Basil Pesto
Though pesto means “pounded” in Italian, the rush of modern life has taken the recipe out of the mortar and into the blender (or food processor) for most of us. This version, adapted from a Ligurian woman, Lidia Caveri, gently encourages (but does not require) a return to the mortar. The constant rap of the pestle will jostle the nuts, basil and garlic into an emulsified base. Add the oil and cheese to get an impossibly thick, creamy sauce that clings to pasta unlike any machine-made counterpart could. Though you might think otherwise, the pesto will come together before the pasta water has a chance to boil. And as a bonus, there'll be no blender to wash up afterward.
Vegetarian Lasagna Bolognese
There’s no way around it: Good lasagna is a labor of love, building deep flavor layer by layer. But the effort required on the front end pays off greatly, especially since the dish can be prepared in advance. Start with this vegan Bolognese, and half your work is done. The rest comes together easily: Stir together a parsleyed ricotta filling, boil your noodles, assemble your lasagna and bake until bubbly and browned. Rich, creamy and deeply satisfying, this lasagna happens to be vegetarian, but your guests will hardly know the difference.
Blond Puttanesca (Linguine With Tuna, Arugula and Capers)
Garlic, anchovies, capers and tuna come together in this briny, tomato-less take on the classic pasta puttanesca. The sauce is prepared while the pasta cooks, so you can get dinner on the table in no time. If you want to go the extra mile, roughly chopped green pitted olives would be a nice addition, as would topping the dish with toasted panko bread crumbs tossed with lemon zest. Go ahead, drink that glass of falanghina while you’re cooking.
Bolognese Sauce
After the death in 2013 of Marcella Hazan, the cookbook author who changed the way Americans cook Italian food, The Times asked readers which of her recipes had become staples in their kitchens. Many people answered with one word: “Bolognese.” Ms. Hazan had a few recipes for the classic sauce, and they are all outstanding. This one appeared in her book “Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking,” and one reader called it “the gold standard.” Try it and see for yourself.
Fresh Ricotta
Why make homemade ricotta? Because you can. And because the results are so much better than most of the packaged stuff you can buy, especially at the supermarket. Making it yourself is also less expensive than buying fresh ricotta at a fancy gourmet market.
Prosciutto-Parmesan Stock
Here’s the problem with homemade stock: It’s so good that it doesn’t last long. What’s needed is something you can produce more or less on the spot. Although water is a suitable proxy in small quantities, when it comes to making the bubbling, chest-warming soups that we rely on in winter, water needs some help. Fortunately, there are almost certainly flavorful ingredients sitting in your fridge or pantry that can transform water into a good stock in a matter of minutes. This recipe is meant to be fast, so by ‘‘simmer,’’ I mean as little as five minutes and no more than 15. You can season these stocks at the end with salt and pepper to taste, or wait until you’re ready to turn them into full-fledged soups.
Zucca in Agrodolce (Sweet and Sour Butternut Squash)
Squash marinated in vinegar is prepared differently from region to region in Italy. In Sicily, an agrodolce (sweet and sour) marinade, along with thinly sliced garlic and fresh mint, enlivens the palate. Typically, the squash is pan-fried, but it works just as well baked in the oven, as done here. How much sugar you use depends on the zing of your vinegar and the sweetness of your tooth. Zucca in agrodolce is best served at room temperature, and it’s left to rest for just long enough so that the butternut squash soaks up the sweet and sour syrup. You can also make it a day in advance; just remember to it bring to room temperature before adding the final garnish of fresh mint and serving.