If you are keen to try and cook Italian at home as well as possible, there are many essential recipes that you will need to master along the way. Italian food is arguably some of the most delicious food in the world, and it is a well-loved cuisine which pretty much everyone enjoys eating at least some of the time. If you are keen to improve your Italian cooking, first consider getting these basics down as strongly as you can. You will then find that the rest follows in turn pretty easily and quickly, and you are going to be able to keep a lot of people happy this way.
Marinara Sauce
Every great Italian restaurant or household has its own marinara sauce. This is simply a basic tomato sauce, but the beauty of it in Italian cooking is that it can be used as a base for many other meals that are important in Italian cooking, from pizza to pasta dishes and beyond. Good marinara recipes are straightforward and yet complex; easy to learn but hard to master. But once you have your own homemade marinara sauce down, you will find that your Italian cooking improves greatly thereafter.
Pizza Dough
What would Italian cooking be without its pizza? This is arguably the single most popular Italian cuisine export, as it is now one of the most beloved foods all over the world. If you want to make true Italian pizza at home, you will first need to learn how to make a fantastic pizza dough. There are many methods to do this, but a traditional Napolina pizza dough consists of 00-grade pasta flour mixed with a little strong bread flour. And the really important thing is to leave it to rise for a long time, and always stretch the dough to size – never roll it with a rolling pin!
Homemade Pasta
Pasta is one of those beautiful things which appear to be very difficult to make but are actually very easy indeed to make – and yet, it’s absolutely delicious, and one of the most versatile foods in the world. To make pasta, all you need to do is combine 100g of pasta flour with an egg yolk, mix it with a fork or just with your hands on a work surface. Knead it into a dough and then you can roll it through a pasta machine, or simply use a rolling pin. Fold it over and roll it out again and again to make it silky. The more work you put into it, the better of course. Then it’s just about turning it into whatever preferred shape you might have in mind, and adding it to your favourite sauce or recipe. Carbonara, anyone?
Those are three of the most important Italian recipes to master at home. Each of them is perfectly within your grasp, if you want to learn them. And you will find them incredibly satisfying to create for yourself, your friends and your family.
