Traditional Italian cuisine is not all about pasta. Italians love rice equally as much, as evident in their classic favorite risotto. Like pasta, risotto can be served as a simple side-dish or an elaborate centerpiece. Unlike pasta, preparing risotto requires a simmering pot of stock, rather than a rolling boil of water, and a bit more time and attention. You cannot simply toss the rice into the pot and walk away as you do pasta; you must stand ready to add stock ladle by ladle.

Authentic risotto requires a high-fat, starchy, medium grain rice like Italian Arborio. This rice, when cooked, gives risotto its rich, creamy texture. Be sure to have on hand a generous amount of stock, at least 5-8 cups.

An Italian classic risotto of Milan is Milanese a la Milanese. The ingredients include 2-1/2 cups of Arborio rice, 1/2 cup minced onion, 1 cup dry white wine, pinch of Saffron, 5-8 cups chicken stock, butter, and 1/2-cup grated Parmesan cheese.

To prepare, add butter to a deep, non-stick skillet to cook onions. When translucent, add rice, stir to coat, and toast for 2-3 minutes on high heat. Add wine and allow to evaporate. Ladle 1/2-cup of stock to rice and allow to absorb. Continue adding stock in 1/2-cup increments until rice becomes creamy in texture. Stir frequently to prevent sticking. Dissolve Saffron in 1/2-cup stock midway through process. At the final stage, add butter and Parmesan cheese. Mix well, remove from heat, cover, and allow to stand for several minutes before plating.

Risotto, like pasta, is a versatile dish. Try adding other ingredients such as peppers, mushrooms, squashes, corn, and seafood. Just be mindful that additional ingredients should be added in the final cooking stage.

Creating an authentic Italian dish is quite easy if you have "on hand" five staple ingredients.First and foremost, it's all about the pasta. Both fresh and dried pasta are easily available to the consumer cook. Rather than buying huge amounts of any one type, you're best to purchase small amounts of the most common types, such as spaghetti, linguine, lasagna and elbow. Store your fresh pasta in the refrigerator and you're dried in a the pantry.


Though "special" Italian recipes call for white 'bechamel' sauce, it's still the red tomato sauce that takes center stage in Italian cuisine. Tomato sauce is easy to prepare from scratch. Nevertheless, you wise to stock your pantry with your favorite bottled brand as most are very favorable substitutes.

Olive oil is used abundantly in Italian cuisine. While extra-virgin olive oil is used for raw dressings over pasta salads and vegetable side-dishes, regular olive oil is used for frying and sauteing. By respecting this rule, you preserve the health benefits of this precious oil.

Italians love their garlic. So, it's little wonder that this humble bulb is found in virtually all Italian recipes. You can purchase garlic fresh, dried, powdered or jarred. Fresh garlic, being the premier alternative, is easily stored in a cool, dry place such as a root cellar or refrigerator.

Mushrooms are loved by Italians. Porcini mushrooms, in particular, are renowned in Italian cooking. Fresh or dried, these gems lend a subtle earthy flavor to Italian dishes.If you love Italian cuisine, keep these five staples stocked in your pantry. In minutes, you'll be able to wipe-up an authentic Italian dish worthy to serve at the authentic Italian table.

Italians around the world take their food seriously, whether it is at home, out in a nice restaurant or a small less formal eatery. The ingredients and dishes are different in each region of Italy and some of the influence comes from bordering countries such as France. Traditional celebratory meals in Italy come in many different courses in a certain order. Antipasto is the first course followed by the main course then a vegetable, cheese and ending with dessert. Every day meals can be a one dish type such as lasagna or pizza. The cooking style is kept simple without elaborate sauces but with tons of flavor. The key is the fresh, seasonal ingredients which is why the dishes are so diverse in each region.

In the northern part of Italy where cattle are raised and dairy farming is common, the cooking style leans toward butter, meat and Parmesan cheese. Extra virgin olive oil, tomatoes, eggplant and fish are customary in the southern area of Italy. Italians cook by the season even though fresh produce is available in most stores year round. They may enjoy a fresh Caprese in the summer with fresh plum tomatoes, basil and mozzarella, beautiful green asparagus in spring, and warm braised beef in the autumn.

With all of the varieties of cheese, wine and bread along with the fresh vegetables and different pasta and sauces there is not any reason to wonder why Italian cuisine is so popular. There is so much more to it than spaghetti with meatballs, eggplant Parmesan, and cheese tortellini. If traveling in Italy, sampling local favorites would be a wonderful idea.  

If you want to get to the heart of Italian food, it's best to go the source. For an authentic experience you don't just need to go to the country of Italy, you need to go to Italian homes where traditional Italian food was birthed. That's right, if you want to get to the heart of the cuisine you need to go where it's cooked and served from the heart, in an actual Italian home. Of course it is also a tradition to have some great wine as well.

There are some differences to the layout of an Italian home cooked meal versus other cuisines that you'll want to be aware of. First off, real Italian food is not meant just to bring sustenance; it exists to bring family and friends together. An Italian meal is at least three to four courses and is not something to be rushed through. Meals in general are longer in Italy because of the cultural view that meal times are not just about feeding the body, but about feeding the soul. Typically wine is served and it is important to be sure to pair the two.

One of the most surprising things to foreigners about an Italian meal is the first course it typically the most filling. There are an antipasti or appetizer course, but there is no salad or soup to ease your way into the meal. I found that you would pair Chianti with pasta. Right from the antipasti diners delve into the primo or "first course". This is the course that will look most familiar to foreigners because it is where that delicious pasta that Italian food is famous for is served. This primo course is where most people's knowledge of Italian food ends. Few people realize that there is much more to Italian food than just this primo pasta.

The next part of the meal is the secondo or "second course". Here is the main dish. Yes, that's right, the pasta that was just served in the primo, while filling, is not the main dish. The second course is where you'll find the meat of the meal. In the North there will most likely be veal, pork, or chicken. In the South and coastal regions you're more likely to find freshly caught fish. With this course will come a contorno or "side dish"? This is where you'll get a chance to get your daily vegetables in. Traditionally this will come in the form of a fresh salad. There are several choices of wines to pair depending on the type of meat being served.

To end the meal diners get not one, but two desserts. The first is a cheese and fruit course that will help prepare you for the dolce or main dessert. The dolce will be the rich dessert of the evening, such as cake. Of course, the meal will end with coffee or espresso, a classical capstone to the array of Italian food that has been served; you could also have aglass of wine. However, there is one last course to come that foreigners may not be so familiar with. The last course is actually the digestive course and consists of liquors and is often referred to as the "coffee killer".

After having an authentic dining experience as the one outlined above, foreigners will leave Italy with a much better grasp on what Italian food is. There is more to this fine cuisine than pasta and pizzas. In fact, by the time the "coffee killer" comes around the primo pasta course is starting to fade in memory, buried by the exciting meat dishes, fresh vegetables, fruits, cheeses, and coffees that have made Italian food one of the most sought after cuisines in Europe.

Most classic Italian pasta dishes are quick, and easy. Often you can prepare the sauce in the time it takes to boil the pasta. A favorite is puttanesca sauce. The origins of this sauce are not quite clear, however one story is that a Puttan, or lady of the evening, could cook it in the time it took to take care of a customer, then enjoy it after her exertions.

Your grocery list and preparation, what you will need to make your puttanesa sauce: 2/3 cup of pitted black olive, sliced; four boned anchovy fillets; two cloves of garlic; three tablespoons olive oil or butter; one tablespoon rinsed salted capers or rinsed and drained capers in vinegar, minced; three or four ripe plum tomatoes, finely sliced; salt and pepper to taste; one pound of spaghetti.

Before beginning your sauce, start your water for the spaghetti; and once the water is boiling, throw in your spaghetti, so that by the time it is ready the sauce will be also. Sauté the chopped garlic in the oil with the anchovies, stirring the mixture until the anchovies begin to break up. Once the garlic is slightly browned, add the olives, capers, and tomatoes. Check to make sure the seasoning is to your taste. Allow the sauce to simmer on low for fifteen minutes, while continuing to stir it occasionally. Once the sauce and spaghetti are done stir the sauce into the pasta and serve. Add a tossed salad, a piece of fresh fruit and a nice bottle of Vesuvio Rosso, which is in the red wine family and you have nice quick and easy classic Italian dinner for four. 

Italian cooking is, above all else, a cuisine based on good raw materials. The use of powerful, no fat flavorings in the form of herbs, particularly basil, rosemary, sage and parsley, is considered essential in Italian cooking. So are aromatic vegetables, such as onions, garlic and peppers. Italians also love the pungent flavor combinations of wine, vinegar, tomato paste and lemon juice. Tasty, cured condiments such as sun-dried tomatoes, capers, and olives are must have ingredients. With little or no fat, these ingredients can go a long way to produce a delicious range of flavors.

Italians also love salty foods, like prosciutto, and only a small amount of it is needed to add flavor to a dish. One tablespoon of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano made with part skim milk contains less than two grams of fat and can be used over pasta and salads. Dishes that are normally deep-fried can get that same crispy outer layer by breading and spraying with cooking oil and then baked.