Italian Recipes
1418 recipes found
Crepes-Style Manicotti
For many Italian-American families, in New Jersey and elsewhere, the Thanksgiving smorgasbord doesn’t feel quite right without a little touch of red sauce. So you say: “Manicotti? That doesn’t really go with turkey and stuffing and cranberries.” What, you want to argue about it? Besides, Thanksgiving also represents an American expression of abbondanza, the Italian concept of too-muchness that makes a meal feel epic. Here, courtesy of Reservoir Tavern, which has been serving customers in the Boonton area since 1936, comes a recipe for baked manicotti that uses crepes in place of pasta. Nicola Bevacqua, a member of the family that owns the place, said that his own family digs into this melted-cheese masterwork each holiday, as do the New Jersey locals who drop by to pick it up. The crepes, he assured us, “are light and airy and will leave you plenty of room for the turkey.”
Braciola Steaks Stuffed With Cheese And Prosciutto
Corn and Yellow Tomato Risotto With Shrimp
Creamy Tomato Gazpacho With Crunchy Pecorino
At lunchtime on a steamy day, I got the unlikely idea to cross a smoothie with gazpacho. Given my languid state, I had wanted something icy and filling, but not too taxing to prepare. That’s when the idea to merge a gazpacho and a smoothie crept into my head. I’d swap tomatoes for the usual berries; add garlic, oil, vinegar and salt to punch up the flavor; and keep the yogurt for heft. As the blender whirled, my stomach growled, and I nibbled on pieces of crunchy cheese cracker I had left over from a recent salad. Instead of croutons, I like to fry grated cheese until crisp, then crumble it over greens. For this batch, I had used pecorino, which seemed like a natural complement to the sheep’s-milk yogurt. So I saved some for garnish.
Tomato Frittata With Fresh Marjoram or Thyme
One of my summer favorites, this frittata makes a perfect and substantial meal served cold or at room temperature.
Eggs Poached in Marinara Sauce
In southern Italy this dish has the evocative name Uova al Purgatorio. When I make tomato sauce in the summer, I freeze it in half-cup portions, which makes this meal for one easy to throw together.
Fennel and Parmigiano
Risi e Bisi
The classic Venetian dish of rice and peas known as risi e bisi makes for a perfect springtime Sunday lunch. This version includes the addition of baby zucchini, which is an acknowledged departure from tradition but a mighty delicious one. The desired final consistency is loose, almost brothy, not tight and creamy like risotto nor drippy like a zuppa. The Venetians use the term “all’onda,” a reference to the swell of waves in the sea. Short-grain rice helps get that distinct starchy quality, but the rice can’t do the job by itself; there has to be stirring throughout. Pour yourself a glass of a good Soave while you stir. You can have a nap after lunch, which is totally traditional.
Gorgonzola Cream Sauce With Angel-Hair Pasta
Wild Boar Ragù
In 2011, Jeff Gordinier wrote about Gradisca, in the West Village, where the owner Massimo Galeano wanted to serve the dishes of his Bolognese childhood. So he brought in his mother, Caterina Schenardi. This recipe is adapted from her and Daniele Boldrini, who grew up in Bologna. Ms. Schenardi is especially particular about the flour and egg in her tagliatelle, but here you can just use a store-bought version to go alongside, or use a noodle of your preference.
Zappa Family Spaghetti Sauce
I have spent a lifetime trying to duplicate the red sauce and meatball recipe my mother, Anne Marie Zappa, cooked every week when I was growing up. I’ll never do it, but this is close. This is a forgiving recipe. Maybe you want to add a couple of chicken thighs, or mix in a few browned hot sausages. Just keep a good ration of pork to beef.
Pizza Margherita
This classic pizza — a small amount of mozzarella and a lot of fresh, sliced tomatoes — may inspire other pies in your kitchen. Sometimes I substitute goat cheese for the mozzarella, and sometimes I make this on a yeasted olive oil pastry. So it’s really not a pizza, more like a tart.
Shrimp Alla Marinara
This recipe quickly turns a batch of homemade marinara sauce into dinner. You can serve it right out of the pan, with crusty bread and a green vegetable. Or, remove the shrimp and toss the sauce with a pound of steaming-hot spaghetti or another long, thin pasta, then put them back together in serving bowls, placing the shrimp on top. Don't attempt to toss the sauce, shrimp, and pasta together -- the lively action needed to coat the pasta will break down the shrimp. You want them to be crisp and savory.
Spaghetti in Spicy Tomato Sauce (Lombrichelli all’Etrusca)
Fresh Tomato Sauce
This is a quick, simple marinara sauce that will only be good if your tomatoes are ripe. If you have a food mill, you don’t have to peel and seed the tomatoes; you can just quarter them and put the sauce through the mill.
Tuscan Onion Soup (Carabaccia)
Orecchiette With Fennel and Sausage
Orecchiette pasta, the “little ears” that are typical of the Apulia region in Italy’s heel, is frequently prepared with sausage and broccoli rabe. For this recipe, I’ve swapped the broccoli rabe for a rich fennel component, which adds a distinctive flavor profile to the pasta dish. The preparation goes fairly quickly. And as an alternative to tossing the ingredients together before serving, it can be placed in an ovenproof casserole and baked, shingled generously with shards of pecorino on top. Baking at 350 degrees will take about 20 minutes, if the ingredients are hot.
Mussel Risotto
I usually keep a good supply of arborio rice on hand for risotto, but on the day I first decided to make this I had just about run out. So I cooked up some short-grain brown rice and stirred it in toward the end of cooking, and what resulted was a wholesome mixed-grains risotto. You won’t get the creaminess if you use all brown rice (and it will take forever), but if you want some whole grain, use the combination option.
Baby Artichoke Risotto
Here’s another great dish to add to your repertoire of artichoke recipes. The tiny lemon zest and juice really bump up the flavor, so don’t leave them out. Cheese is optional here.
Spaghettini With Zucchini
Beef Carpaccio
Beef tenderloin is called for here as it will unfailingly yield the tenderest carpaccio. It is a long, slender, tapered muscle that runs under the ribs and close to the back bone, and as such is, in a way, shielded from being worked very hard, unlike cuts lower on the animal. As for all of us, the closer to the ground the muscle lives, the tougher becomes the work. Some chefs have a real affinity for the harder-working muscles. Top round, for example, is also often called for in carpaccio recipes and is cut from a muscle that has to work harder, and therefore, is thought to have more character, and more flavor. I would gently warn that harder-working muscles come with a little more “chew.” Try it here, as written, with sure success, then explore other cuts if you're interested.
Minestrone with Shell Beans and Almond Pistou
Caramelized Onion and Fennel Risotto
A hearty risotto flavored with a taste of fall by caramelized onions and fennel. “Being vegetarian or vegan around the holidays is incredibly difficult,” says Joe DiMaria of Somerville, who sent us this recipe. “It’s even more difficult when you don’t like squash, root vegetables or sweet potatoes.”
Sicilian Lamb Spezzatino With Saffron and Mint
This simple stovetop lamb stew is seasoned with only a pinch of saffron and a splash of wine, then showered with lots of chopped mint. Once assembled, this fragrant stew takes only about an hour to cook. It has a bright-flavored lightness that makes it ideal for these balmy evenings. I served it with plain boiled potatoes — nothing more was needed.