The delicious. team’s favourite Italian recipes of all time
Lasagne. Pannacotta. Risotto. Italy is the birthplace of umpteen iconic dishes and repeatedly tops polls as the UK’s favourite cuisine – so what are the delicious. team’s favourite Italian recipes?
We recently embarked on a food tour of the country’s 20 regions, exploring classic Italian dishes and lesser-known gems along the way. Did you know that the pasta shape fusilli (which shines in a lamb ragù) originated in Molise? Or that once upon a time in Campania, fishermen cooked their catch in seawater (today replaced with an aromatic white wine broth)? The result is the fabulously-named dish pesce all’acqua pazza (fish cooked in ‘crazy water’).
While we’ll always have a place in our heart for Roman carbonara and Sicilian cannoli, the team’s Italian recipe repertoire has had a real shake up as we’ve traversed from the Amalfi coast to the mountainous Aosta Valley. Inspired by our great Italian tour, these are the latest hits from the delicious. test kitchen – plus handful of forever-favourites we can’t forget…
Bigoli in salsa (caramelised onion and anchovy pasta)
“When the food team were testing recipes for our Italian tour, the thing that had me diving straight back in for a second and third taste (and which has immediately been added to my recipe repertoire) is Joe Carey’s Venetian bigoli in salsa (aka anchovy pasta). Comforting carbs and an umami, salty smack around the chops. What more can a girl ask for?”
Mondeghili (fried breaded beef and pork meatballs)
“I really love chef Naz Hassan’s recipe for Milanese mondeghili. The little fried meatballs have so much flavour and when I tested them I couldn’t stop eating them! I also love that it’s a leftovers recipe – proving that leftovers can be even better than the main event.”
Learn how to make another classic from Lombardy’s cultural capital in our in-depth guide to the best-ever risotto alla milanese →
Frico (Alpine cheese and potato cake)
“Holy moly this was a tasty number. Frico is a tangled mess of caramelised onions and soft potato, glued together with heaps of Alpine cheese and fried on each side to make a potato cake of the heavens. So good, and a great dish to show there’s so much more to Italian food than pasta and pizza.”
Pasta alla norma
“This aubergine pasta, pasta alla norma, is super easy, super saucy and the whole family (including the vegetarian), loves it.”
Saltimbocca
“I love making saltimbocca. There’s something therapeutic about wrapping the chicken in prosciutto and tucking in the sage leaves. It can be prepped in advance and has always been a hit with kids I’ve cooked for too. I use chicken instead of veal.”
Risi e bisi (classic Venetian rice and peas)
“Like many Italian recipes, Ursula Ferrigno’s Venetian risi e bisi seems disarmingly simple (rice and peas, plus some herbs, veg stock and parmesan) but the flavours are so good…”
Classic tiramisu
“I find it hard to make any other dessert than tiramisu when friends come round to eat. I could argue it’s the brilliant make-ahead factor, but in reality it’s all about the luscious, sink-your-spoon in mascarpone filling – and joy of serving fat slabs of it from a giant serving dish, Italian grandma-style. Thanks to the not-so-authentic (but now widely accepted) egg whites folded through the mix, the result is indulgent but not heavy in the way other rich desserts can be. All hail tiramisu: the dream dinner party dessert.”
Read food writer Dianne Bortoletto’s take on why the best tiramisu is proudly inauthentic →
Coda alla vaccinara (Roman braised oxtail)
“I recently took a stroll down to the fancy butcher’s near me and picked up some oxtail to try out this coda alla vaccinara (Roman braised oxtail). I’ve long been a fan of Roman cuisine from several holidays there. After a few hours braising I was gifted with one of the richest and most concentrated stews I’d ever tasted. It left me nodding off on the sofa shortly after – what more could you ask for on a Saturday evening?”
Dive back into your Italian food tour and discover inspiring recipes from Italy’s 20 regions to refresh your repertoire.