Italian Recipes

Recipes worth cooking, from fast midweek pasta to the dishes that deserve a long Sunday lunch.

Risotto & Mains

Comforting risotti, seafood, meat and vegetable dishes inspired by kitchens across Italy.

From antipasti to dolci

Italian cooking is a collection of regional traditions rather than a single fixed cuisine. A pasta sauce that feels completely normal in Rome may barely appear on a menu in Bologna; Sicily has its own relationship with citrus, aubergines, almonds and seafood; northern kitchens make more use of butter, rice, polenta and rich slow-cooked dishes. Our recipe collection will reflect those differences rather than flattening everything into a generic idea of “Italian”.

Pasta recipes

Pasta will be one of the largest collections on Italian Gourmet. Expect Roman classics such as carbonara, cacio e pepe and amatriciana, slow-cooked ragù, pesto, baked pasta, seafood pasta and simple dishes where garlic, chilli, olive oil or seasonal vegetables do most of the work. Alongside each recipe we will explain suitable pasta shapes and the ingredients that matter most.

Pizza, bread and dough

Good pizza starts long before the toppings. We will cover dough hydration, proving time, 00 flour, yeast, oven temperature and the differences between Neapolitan, Roman and home-oven pizza. Bread recipes will include focaccia and other regional favourites, with methods written for ordinary home kitchens.

Risotto, meat, fish and vegetables

Beyond pasta, the collection will include risotto, polenta, braised meats, seafood, vegetable dishes, salads and comforting secondi. Italian vegetable cooking deserves particular attention: courgettes, artichokes, tomatoes, peppers, beans and aubergines can be the centre of the plate rather than an afterthought.

Desserts and baking

Tiramisu is only the beginning. We will explore panna cotta, biscotti, torta caprese, crostata, cannoli, affogato and seasonal bakes, with an emphasis on achievable recipes and ingredients that can be found in the UK.

How our recipes will work

Individual recipes will be published as articles and organised into clear recipe categories. That gives every recipe its own search-friendly URL while this page acts as the main Recipes hub. Each recipe will include an introduction, ingredient notes, quantities, step-by-step method, timings, servings, useful substitutions, common mistakes, storage advice and links to relevant ingredient and equipment guides.

Recipe questions we will answer

Can pancetta replace guanciale? Which rice is best for risotto? Why did a sauce split? Can pizza dough be made the day before? What can be prepared ahead? Those practical questions are often more useful than another paragraph of culinary mythology, so they will form part of the recipe itself.