Famous Food in Italy

Italian cuisine has a great variety of different ingredients which are commonly used, ranging from fruits, vegetables, sauces, meats, etc.

Here are the famous dishes in Italy

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Minestrone Soup (vegetable and beans soup)

It is a thick soup made with vegetables, beans and pasta, rice or potatoes.

Common ingredients include onions, celery, carrots, kale or cabbage, and stock.

There is no set recipe for minestrone since it is usually made out of whatever vegetables are in season

Ribollita

Ribollita is a famous Tuscan bread soup, it is made with bread and vegetables.

There are many variations but the main ingredients always include leftover bread, cannellini beans, Lacinato kale, cabbage, and vegetables such as carrot, beans, chard, celery, potatoes, and onion.

Ribollita means "reboiled".

Carpaccio​

Carpaccio was first served in 1950.

It is a dish of raw meat or fish, sliced thin and served mainly as an appetizer.

The raw beef is sprinkled with oil and thin slices of Parmesan cheese.

Bruschetta

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A classic Italian appetizer or pre-appetizer, usually seasoned with olive oil and garlic or olive oil and fresh tomatoes.

Variations may include toppings of tomato, vegetables, beans, cured meat, or cheese.

Italian Pizza​

Pizza is a famous dish in Italian cuisine, consisting of a usually round, flattened base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomatoes, cheese, and various other ingredients baked at a high temperature, traditionally in a wood-fired oven.

Pasta

Pasta is typically made from an unleavened dough of durum wheat flour mixed with water or eggs and formed into sheets or various shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking.

Risotto

It is one of the most common ways of cooking rice in Italy.

Risotto can be flavored in a hundred different ways.

It is a creamy rice dish made with rice and chicken or beef or fish broth depending on what kind of ingredients the risotto will be flavored with.

The rice is first coated and toasted in butter, then cooked in broth to a creamy consistency.

Parmesan cheese is added to all risotto recipe except those with seafood.

Ravioli​

Ravioli are a type of dumpling composed of a filling sealed between two layers of thin pasta dough.

Usually served either in broth or with a pasta sauce, Ravioli are typically square, though other forms are also used, including circular or semi-circular.

The filling varies according to the area where they are prepared it may be ricotta cheese, spinach, nutmeg, and black pepper.

It is similar to Mantı in Turkey

Lasagna

It is a flat pasta, usually baked in layers in the oven.

Traditionally lasagna wasn’t made with tomatoes, only with ragù sauce, béchamel sauce, and cheese mozzarella or Parmigiano, But now only a bit of tomato sauce is used.

It is made with different fillings (depending on the region) such as meat, vegetables, and cheese, and sometimes topped with melted grated cheese.

Fiorentina Steak

It is considered to be Italy’s best dish.

It is a large T-bone steak, it is at least 4 to 5 cm high and weighs at least 800g, grilled over wood or charcoal fire and seasoned with only salt and pepper, olive oil, and often garnished with lemon wedges.

The meat is sourced from the beef of the Chianina breed in Tuscan.

Parmigiana​

Parmigiana is a famous Italian dish.

It is made of fried sliced eggplant layered with tomato sauce, basil, garlic, and one or more cheeses then baked.

Tagliata

Tagliata is the Italian name for sliced steak. a thick piece of beef that is grilled, then carved.

The meat is seasoned only with salt and olive oil, sometimes rosemary.

Antipasto

Antipasto is the traditional first course of a formal Italian meal.

Typical ingredients of a traditional antipasto include cured meats, olives, pepper, mushrooms, anchovies, artichoke hearts, various cheeses, pickled meats, and vegetables in oil or vinegar.

Polpette

Polpette It is an Italian Meatball.

It can be made of meat, fish, potatoes, rice, or vegetables and can be prepared stewed, baked, or fried.

Arancini

Arancini are stuffed rice balls that are coated with bread crumbs and then deep-fried. They are usually filled with ragù, mozzarella, and peas, Tomato sauce.

Brasato

The braised beef is meat (rarely a fish) cooked slowly in a little cooking liquid, often made up of wine or broth flavored with spices.

Ossobuco

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It is veal meat with marrow bone cooked in a tomato and wine sauce.

It can be served as a second dish but is often served together with the risotto with Saffron.

Polenta

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Polenta is a dish of boiled cornmeal.

It may be served as a hot porridge, or it may be cool.

Usually, it’s topped with a ragù sauce and some grated cheese but it can also be a side dish.

Gnocchi

Gnocchi is various thick, small, and soft dough dumplings that may be made from semolina, ordinary wheat flour, egg, cheese, potato, breadcrumbs, cornmeal.

Gnocchi is usually eaten as a replacement for pasta in the first course, but it can also be served as a side dish to some main courses.

Saltimbocca​

Saltimbocca is an Italian dish that contains thin slices of veal, topped with salty ham and herb leaves, and marinated in wine, oil, or saltwater.

These ingredients joined together with a toothpick, are sautéed in a pan until the meat is done.

Different varieties of meat, such as chicken and mutton are also used for preparing the saltimbocca.

Cotoletta Alla Milanese ​

Veal Milanese or Veal Alla Milanese is a famous Italian dish.

It is traditionally prepared with a veal cutlet that is breaded and fried in butter. The butter or lemon juice is then poured over the cutlet before being served.

Zuppa Di Pesce (Fish Soup)

It is a fish soup made with fish and shrimp.

Tomatoes, carrots, celery, wine or water, onion, marjoram, orange peel, garlic, bay leaves, and hot pepper sauce are boiled together then the fish and shrimp are added to these ingredients with a tomato sauce.

Zuppa Di Cozze

It is not really a soup, but a classic way of cooking and serving mussels.

Made with a white sauce and white wine, garlic, and Italian parsley. ​

Desserts

Tiramisu​

Italy’s most famous dessert.

It is made of ladyfingers dipped in coffee, layered with a whipped mixture of eggs, sugar, and mascarpone cheese, flavored with cocoa. ​

Torrone​

Torrone is made with honey, and egg white, with toasted almonds or other nuts, and usually shaped into either a rectangular tablet or a round cake.

Gelato​

Italian gelato is very different and lower in fat than any other ice cream in the world.

It is made without preservatives, as it is not usually intended to be stored for long, it is always served fresh.

Made with a base of milk and sugar. ​

Panna Cotta​

Panna cotta is an Italian dessert made of sweetened cream thickened with gelatin and molded.

The cream may be flavored with coffee, vanilla, and other flavors.

Zabaione

Zabaione is an Italian dessert, and sometimes a beverage.

It is made with egg yolks, sugar, and sweet wine. ​

Semifreddo​

It is often called an ice-cream cake.

Semifreddo is a semi-frozen dessert.

The main ingredients are usually eggs, sugar, and cream it has the texture of frozen mousse.

Cannoli

Cannoli are Italian pastries that originated on the island of Sicily.

Cannoli consist of tube-shaped shells of fried pastry dough, filled with a sweet, creamy filling usually containing ricotta.