Italian Cuisine and traditional recipes

Italian recipes: pasta with saffron and anchovy

21 April, 2020

Saffron is often used with risotto, but this time we’ll use this exquisite spice with pasta corta; an innovation that I’m sure you will love! Here are the ingredients: 200 g pasta (short variety); wild fennel; anchovies in oil; 1…

How to serve Italian cheese: condiments

19 April, 2020

There are many Italian cheeses that you can treat yourself to, and often the enjoyment is increased by choosing the right side serve for your cheese. With soft cheeses, aged cheese and everything right down to the simple ricotta or…

Food and wine matching: Italian cheese and the best southern Italian wine

19 April, 2020

The world of Italian food and wine matching is vast and has many pleasures, if you have the time and the curiosity to explore. Today we look at Italian cheese “caciocavallo” and the possible Italian wine options to match.Caciocavallo is…

Traditional Italian products: bresaola cured beef from the Valtellina

18 April, 2020

We’ve touched on Italian cold cuts and cured meats before, called “salumi”. For an idea of the pitfalls regarding the Italian language, see our post on “salumi, salame and salami“. Today, though, we take a general look at Italy’s salumi,…

Italian recipes: rigatoni pasta with artichoke and sausage

18 April, 2020

This Italian recipe for rigatoni pasta with sausage and artichokes is delicious and easy to prepare. Here’s what you need:350 g rigatoni; 120 g ricotta; ½ cup milk; 200 g artichokes; 2 sausages; 1 glass of white wine; 1 garlic…

Italian recipes: pasta with porcini and zucchini

17 April, 2020

Fed up with complicated recipes which never work out the way one wanted? If so try this quick and easy Italian recipe for pasta with porcini and zucchini; it won’t have you slaving in the kitchen for hours!Ingredients: 350 g…

Italy's best olive oil from Rome at Sabina

17 April, 2020

In some ways, the Italian olive oil industry is in crisis, but leaving aside the negative, Italy produces a quarter of the world’s olive oil. Meaning that Italian olive oil doesn’t just come from Umbria, Puglia or Tuscany. Today we…

Italian summer traditions: what is grattachecca and where to get it

16 April, 2020

Okay, so we’ve got Italian gelato, and if you’re in the know there is also the granita which is a flavoured ice drink. And then there’s grattachecca. It’s also a flavoured ice drink but from a slightly different tradition. The…

Christmas comes early in Cortina D' Ampezzo

15 April, 2020

Christmas in Italy is a well-planned affair and although it’s only October, in the pretty town of Cortina one can already feel December 25th in the air; the most sophisticated shop windows down its main street called Corso Italia have…

Food for tourists: take away food in Italy

13 April, 2020

Wonderful news for the traveller in Italy: a new brand is emerging for the so-called “baracchini”: kiosk or caravan style places that serve food.Sometimes the food is great, other times a purchase constitutes a real leap of faith, as you…

Italian cheese appears on postal stamps: made in Italy food

13 April, 2020

Italian cheese is being celebrated on the country’s postal stamps as part of a marketing initiative to celebrate “Made in Italy” products. Only select cheeses are being represented and in the future we will find: mozzarella di bufala, gorgonzola, parmigiano…

Recipes from southern Italy: "sanguinaccio" pie

13 April, 2020

This regional Italian dish comes from the south of Italy and is particularly famous in Campania. I was very tempted to write “bloody” cake in the title but thought better of it. In any case, the name “torta di sanguinaccio”…

Italian summer recipes: cold pasta with tuna fish

12 April, 2020

With temperatures going up and heat waves on the way a quick and easy recipe for pasta fredda or cold pasta is what we need!Ingredients: 180 g spaghetti; canned tuna, lemon juice; chopped parsley; extra virgin olive oil; salt and…

Easy Italian recipes: Tomatoes and mozzarella au gratin

12 April, 2020

Today we have a tasty recipe easy and quick to prepare: tomatoes and mozzarella au gratin.Ingredients: 300 g tomatoes; 300 g mozzarella; 300 g brown bread; basil; 2 garlic cloves; butter; oil and pepper.Preparation: Preheat the oven to 180° c.…

Italian Christmas recipes: homemade nutella cookies

11 April, 2020

We’ve got a wonderful Italian winter treat for you with these easy, homemade nutella cookies. With temperatures dropping, there’s nothing like a little chocolate to get you in the mood for snow and lazy Sundays by the fire. These biscuits…

Autumn in Italy: Chestnut Festival at Marradi, near Florence

10 April, 2020

Each year Autumn, the season which is like a door between summer and winter, brings its own delights to the table; from chestnuts and mushrooms to apples and grapes. So those of you who love the flavours of Autumn will…

Italian recipes: Bustrengo cake from Romagna

10 April, 2020

Bustrengo is a delicious cake from Romagna and Marche. Actually it’s most famous recipe is from a small village called Borghi in the hills around Cesena; it seems that every housewife in this old village has her own secret recipe…

Italian Christmas recipes: coconut tiramisu

10 April, 2020

The traditional Italian dessert of tiramisu is so simple that it’s one of those great dishes which lends itself to variation. So today we bring you tiramisu with a twist - coconut tiramisu for an Italian Christmas recipe. It’s also…

Alitalia gets best airline food award

9 April, 2020

This might be hard to believe for some, but it turns out that Italian airline Alitalia, which has been through a tumultuous period of late, has received the award for the best airline food from the US magazine Global Traveler.…

The Geometry of Pasta: new cookbook explains pasta shapes

9 April, 2020

The shape of pasta is not just a random thing that you can throw any sauce at. On the contrary, Italian cooking has known for centuries which are the best sauces to match to certain pasta shapes, and which shapes…

Traditional Italian products: red chicory for Christmas and winter recipes

8 April, 2020

If you were wondering what the red stuff was in your Italian Christmas dish, or New Year’s Eve recipe, you may find it was the red endive, or chicory, currently in season in Italy and used in various Italian recipes…

International Day of Italian cuisine: celebrating homemade pesto sauce

8 April, 2020

Today is the fourth annual International Day for Italian Cuisine and this year’s focus is the regional Italian cuisine dish of pesto from Liguria. Genoa is the home of Italy’s famous pesto sauce and this edition follows the previous celebration…

Boutique shopping in Rome: 500 types of pasta at Pastateca

8 April, 2020

It’s true that you can do just about anything with pasta, but I would never have said there were 500 types of pasta in the world. But if you’re shopping in Rome and exploring its boutique stores, you might find…

Apple 'sagra' in Italy: Italian food festival of 'pom a moj' at Casalnoceto, Alessandria

7 April, 2020

Whether famous or not, apples are a traditional Italian product, with the most well known being the apples of Trentino-Alto Adige in Italy’s north. An old Italian food festival is being revived though, at Casalnoceto, between Alessandria and Pavia, where…

Italian snack recipes: parmesan pudding

6 April, 2020

We’ve looked at plenty of Italian snacks here on Dolce Vita, but this is the first I’ve heard of anything like this Italian cheese snack. If you’re going to throw an Italian snack party, you could try this “parmesan cheese…