Italian

This pasta dough is easy, texturally resilient, and versatile enough to form into any shape.

Getting the consistency of the creamy mushroom sauce right is key for this pasta recipe. You want to reduce it just until it clings to the pasta to create a light coating.

The genius of this pasta recipe is in the contrast of the textures and flavors. If spicy isn’t your thing, sub in any fresh sausage you like.

This all-star topper can gussy up anything: steak, roasted potatoes—even a citrus salad.

Once you get hooked on fresh chiles, you'll want to pack them into everything you cook—including your antipasto.

This twist on the traditional Italian peperonata omits the tomatoes, but the bell peppers are hearty and colorful enough on their own. Serve as a side dish or pour over steak.

At Pietro’s, the cooks deep fry the chicken cutlets in a large, wide skillet, which allows the oil to come up to temperature very quickly and stay there once the cutlet is added. Smart, but potentially messy (it’s a lot of oil!). If you have a Dutch oven with high sides, that will minimize splatter—we’d feel rotten if you got burned.

If there is a lot of liquid in the pan when the spinach is done, drain it before adding the beans.

Add another ½ tsp. red pepper flakes if you like it fiery; omit them all if you don’t. This sauce pairs perfectly with our mozzarella sticks.

Visit an Italian deli and splurge on the cold cuts, but hit the supermarket for everything else, including the not-too-crusty rolls that are usually loaded into bins in the bakery section.

Puntarelle refers to the bitter inner stalks of the Catalonian chicory (Belgian endive and radicchio are close cousins). Reserve the white stalks for another use—they’re great in a crunchy salad.

Though it can be made with other small plums, this cake is the tastiest with the Italian variety—but keep in mind that they are in their peak season only a few weeks a year, in late summer to early fall.

To achieve pillow-light gnocchi, choose potatoes that are roughly the same size and be careful not to overcook them.

There's nothing, um, vanilla about our homemade version of the classic, making it the perfect, most delicious base for coffee stracciatella.

We wanted a recipe that was a better expression of “primavera,” literally "spring" in Italian. We swapped the oft used tomatoes and angel hair pasta for sturdy linguini and the first of spring’s green offerings.

What’s better than cheese and crackers for lunch? Salami, too! Use whatever hard cheese and cured meats you prefer.

The pasta will continue to absorb the broth as it sits, so use a small noodle like ditalini, stars, or alphabet shapes.

Leftovers are the key to packing lunches easily—and this recipe is perfect for that. Plus it freezes well, too; if you freeze in small portioned containers, all you have to do is reheat and go.

While this cooking project requires effort and some special equipment, even a novice can achieve pro results.

If you can’t find burrata, fresh mozzarella makes a fine substitute.