Food World Cuisines European Cuisines Italian Cuisine 30 Italian Food Recipes for Memorable Meals By Food & Wine Editors Food & Wine Editors This is collaborative content from Food & Wine's team of experts, including staff, recipe developers, chefs, and contributors. Many of our galleries curate recipes or guides from a variety of sources which we credit throughout the content and at each link. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on April 22, 2023 Trending Videos Close this video player Photo: Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Bring a taste of Italy to your kitchen with these fantastic gourmet Italian recipes. From crescent-shaped stuffed pasta to woven lasagna and fried risotto pancakes, these dishes are full of flavor and are wonderful for family dinners and parties alike. It doesn't end there, though: We've included desserts such as classic cannoli with orange-scented cheese filling to keep everyone's sweet tooth satisfied. Try one of these Italian dishes for a gourmet getaway. 01 of 30 Salad of Pink Radicchio, Citrus, and Mushroom Bagna Cauda Gentl & Hyers In this recipe from Cooking with Mushrooms by Andrea Gentl, melted anchovies and porcini mushroom powder lend a savory depth to nutty brown butter bagna cauda, yielding a powerhouse sauce that's perfect for drizzling on a wintery salad. The sweetness of vibrant Cara Cara oranges mellows the bitter radicchio and adds a pop of color. Get the Recipe 02 of 30 Italian Bone-In Pork Loin Victor Protasio Frenching and trimming the bone-in pork loin at home gives you fatty, flavorful scraps to season the aromatics and render luscious pan juices. Finishing the pork on a slow roast gives it time to cook through without drying out, gently caramelizing the tender fennel, onion, and shallots. Get the Recipe 03 of 30 Smoked Mozzarella Mezzelune with Braised Onion Sauce Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Micah Morton / Prop Styling by Missie Neville Crawford Mezzelune (which means "half-moons" in Italian) are a crescent-shaped stuffed pasta similar to ravioli. They're a relatively simple shape to try that requires little equipment to make at home. The accompanying thick, rich slow-cooked tomato-onion sauce is loosely inspired by a Bolognese classic called il friggione. Get the Recipe 04 of 30 Fritto Misto with Calabrian Chile Aïoli Jose Mandojana / Food Styling by Robyn Valarik / Prop Styling by Christine Wolheim A festive mix of shrimp, calamari, anchovy-stuffed olives, and paper-thin lemon slices are dredged in a Pernod-spiked batter and fried to crispy, golden perfection. Jarred Calabrian chiles add a fruity heat to the creamy aïoli dipping sauce. Get the Recipe 05 of 30 Candied Almond Affogato Photo by Antonis Achilleos / Prop Styling by Christina Daley / Food Styling by Ali Ramee This Italian dessert is simplicity at its finest — all you need to make it is a scoop or two of gelato and a shot of hot espresso. Here, we've added almond liqueur to the mix for a little extra flair, plus candied almonds and crushed amaretti cookies for some crunch. The elegant treat comes together in just a few minutes, making it an easy and impressive option for entertaining. Get the Recipe 06 of 30 Soppressata Pizza with Calabrian Chiles and Hot Honey Photo by Christopher Testani / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Audrey Davis 13 Essential Tools for Italian Cooking Take a little soppressata, some chopped Calabrian chiles, and a drizzle of hot honey, and you'll end up with the pizza of the moment. Calabrian chiles, fiery chiles from Italy, add heat and a distinctly fruity flavor to this pie. The hot honey mirrors the flavors of the chiles and adds a touch of sweetness. Get the Recipe 07 of 30 Farro Mafaldine with Black Truffle Butter and Mushrooms Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Rishon Hanners / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen "The best way to cook with truffles is as simply as possible," says chef Karen Akunowicz, of the northern Italian restaurant Fox & the Knife in Boston. Black truffle paste, available year-round, melts beautifully into the buttery sauce, but when they're in season (November through February), Akunowicz recommends splurging for fresh black truffles, using a rasp grater to get as much truffle goodness as possible into each perfect bite. Get the Recipe 08 of 30 Woven Lasagna with Prosciutto and Fresh Spinach Sauce Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Thom Driver Weaving the pasta sheets in this lasagna allows the outer pieces to bubble and crisp in the oven around the creamy, rustic prosciutto-ricotta filling. Don’t skip the fresh pasta sheets; their length and texture are key to assembling this show-stopping dish. Get the Recipe 09 of 30 Risotto al Salto (Crispy Rice Pancake) Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Ruth Blackburn / Prop Styling by Thom Driver Also known as risotto alla Milanese, risotto giallo is a yellow risotto that gets its vibrant color as a result of the pigment released by saffron, the hero of the dish. In this two-for-one recipe, you can make a sumptuous saffron-stained risotto that's perfectly delicious served all’onda (creamy and hot) — or prepare it al salto (fried) into crisp golden pancakes. Get the Recipe 10 of 30 Braciole Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen This cozy dish of rolled flank steak and prosciutto stuffed with breadcrumbs, cheese, and pine nuts and cooked in tomato sauce is a staple at Italian family gatherings. Get the Recipe 11 of 30 Tortine di Riso Agli Agrumi (Italian-style Rice Custard with Citrus) Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Ruth Blackburn / Prop Styling by Thom Driver Inspired by the classic torta di riso alla Carrarina, a special dessert from the area of Tuscany's Carrara marble quarries, this sweet rice dish’s defining feature is that it separates into two layers as it bakes: The top transforms into a delicate, barely set custard, while the bottom develops into a firmer layer of soft rice bound with custard. Get the Recipe 12 of 30 Five-Herb Frittata with Prosciutto and Parmesan John Kernick Chef Nancy Silverton has strong opinions about frittatas. She likes them to be creamy like scrambled eggs, with various toppings like prosciutto, cheese, and a generous amount of herbs. At her dinner parties, she often serves this 15-minute frittata as a side dish, so guests can cut wedges at the table. Get the Recipe 13 of 30 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," barbecue teacher Steven Raichlen says. In Tuscany, olive oil is the fat of choice for finishing herbed veal chops like these. Get the Recipe 14 of 30 Creamy Polenta with Three-Cheese Fonduta Photo by Greg DuPree / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer This creamy polenta with three-cheese fonduta, also called toc’ in braide, is a luxuriously rich mixture of thick, sweet polenta and three cheeses: whole milk ricotta, crumbly Gorgonzola, and nutty Parmigiano-Reggiano. Thyme-infused brown butter adds a woodsy, nutty bite to this indulgent side. Get the Recipe 15 of 30 Italian Wedding Risotto Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Inspired by the classic Italian wedding soup, this heartier risotto is filled with just-wilted spinach and topped with crispy, garlicky meatballs. Use a cookie scoop to quickly portion out the meatballs; make a double batch and freeze half to whip up this risotto in a flash. Remove the risotto from the heat while it's still a little soupy — it will thicken slightly as it rests. Get the Recipe 16 of 30 Ossola-Style Gnocchi with Sage-Butter Sauce Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Micah Morton / Prop Styling by Missie Neville Crawford Recipe developer Meryl Feinstein's Ossola-style gnocchi are hearty cold-weather dumplings from the Ossola Valley in northern Piedmont, only a few miles from the Swiss border. In addition to potatoes, these gnocchi include winter squash, chestnut flour, and nutmeg. Get the Recipe 17 of 30 Cannoli Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Josh Hoggle Cannoli, a crisp and creamy Italian dessert with origins in Sicily, is made of pastry dough that has been molded into a tube and fried until crispy. The fried pastry is filled with orange-scented mascarpone and ricotta cheese filling and then dipped in chopped chocolate or pistachio. Get the Recipe 18 of 30 Antipasto Salad with Bocconcini and Green-Olive Tapenade © Greg DuPree Chef Nancy Silverton is an Italian cooking expert, getting the biggest flavor from the simplest ingredients. She does just that with this hearty salad, which combines crisp iceberg lettuce, milky mozzarella, spicy-tangy peperoncini, and salty olives and salami. Get the Recipe 19 of 30 Florentine Butter Chicken Greg DuPree This recipe, inspired by Food & Wine editor in chief Hunter Lewis' trip to Trattoria Sostanza in Florence, features tangy cultured butter, which has a higher butterfat content. The butterfat gives cultured butter a slightly higher smoke point and — when combined with olive oil — provides enough cooking time to finish the chicken and sauce simultaneously. Get the Recipe 20 of 30 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. This easier version uses just beef shank; feel free to purchase the fresh pappardelle from the store instead of making your own. Get the Recipe 21 of 30 Italian Seafood Stew © John Kernick In this luscious, tomato-rich stew, chef Marco Canora cooks calamari slowly until it becomes super tender. 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 22 of 30 Toasted Pistachio-Cheese Arancini © Ditte Isager This recipe for arancini — fried risotto balls — comes from bakery owner Renato Poliafito, who got it from his Sicilian cousin Emanuele Sanfilippo. 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 23 of 30 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 24 of 30 Sardinian Stuffed Eggplant © Quentin Bacon Chef Efisio Farris 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, 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 25 of 30 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 26 of 30 Spinach and Ricotta Gnudi with Tomato-Butter Sauce © Catherine Ledner Chef Tommy Habetz describes gnudi as "ravioli filling without the pasta." Gnudi are of Tuscan origin, and a fresh Tuscan white wine — particularly a Vernaccia — makes a perfect pairing for Habetz's recipe. Get the Recipe 27 of 30 Grilled Mackerel with Sicilian Caper-Tomato Salsa © John Kernick "Give mackerel a chance," begs chef 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 28 of 30 Pizza Vesuvio with the Works © Anson Smart This half-pizza, half-calzone is named for Italy’s Mount Vesuvius. It's topped with everything delicious: artichokes, mozzarella, ricotta, ham, salami, mushrooms, olives, and of course, marinara. Get the Recipe 29 of 30 Farro Salad with Fried Cauliflower and Prosciutto © Kana Okada Cooks in Italy fry cauliflower to bring out its nuttiness. Here, chef Ethan Stowell deep-fries it for a salad with salty prosciutto and nubby farro. Get the Recipe 30 of 30 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 its decadence. 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