It's been about a month since I've been in Italy now, and during this time I've tasted some wonderful dishes and drinks made by my host family. They have been so good that I want to share them with you today so you can get some ideas for your next Italian meal!
La Pasta
Pasta Carbonara
A few weeks ago, my host family made one of my favorite dishes of all time, pasta alla carbonara. I've tried to make the dish plenty of times at home and every time I do, I like it. I follow the instructions and it's tasty, but I never make it as good as I think it's going to be. But when I'm in Italy and I eat it, I love it. And now since I've made it from scratch with my host family, I feel like I really know how to make it at home. Essentially, pasta carbonara is a pasta dish with a sauce made out of eggs, cheese, salt, and pepper. You also have to add cured pork, as shown in the photo below. Once you have fried the meat and made the sauce, you then mix it with the pasta, and voila! You have pasta alla carbonara. The cheeses used are usually Pecorino Romano, Parmigiano-Reggiano, or a combination of the two. For the meat you usually use Guanciale or pancetta.
Pizzoccheri
Now this is one that I've never had before: pizzoccheri. And you can rest assured that I will be cooking this pasta dish again because its name is not only is fun to say, but it is also delicious. Pizzoccheri comes from the Valtellina area, a small valley located in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, so my host family makes it relatively often. It is made with a pasta called tagliatelle, a flat ribbon pasta, which consists of 80% buckwheat flour and 20% wheat flour. You boil the pasta and also add greens, commonly cabbage, as well as cooked cubed potatoes. You're going to need to boil the pasta for at least 10 to 14 minutes because it is quite hard. To finish, you mix it all together with salt, garlic, a block of melted butter, and cheese. Pizzoccheri is a very tasty and quality recipe, and it is pretty filling, so no worries if you can't finish it all the night that you make it. It's even better the next day!
Risotto
Meet pasta's Northern Italian cousin: Risotto. This is another dish from northern Italy, specifically the Piemonte region, that is cooked with a broth and short-grain rice until it reaches a creamy consistency. It is one of the most common ways of cooking rice in Italy, so my host family eats it a lot. The broth can be derived from meat, fish or vegetables. When my family made risotto, they cooked the rice with white wine that was absorbed by the grains. Then the boiling stock is gradually added, while stirring constantly. My family used a mushroom broth and also added porcini mushrooms. When the rice is cooked thoroughly, it is removed from the heat and then cheese and butter are added to make the mixture smooth and creamy. The risotto is then served and spread out on a flat dish, and should not have any excess liquid around the perimeter.
I Dolci
Tiramisu
We've gone over a number of dishes served for dinner, but what about i dolci, the sweets? We can't forget about them, especially for everyone who has a sweet tooth out there!
For this first dessert, I would like to present a classic to you: tiramisu. I've always liked this cake, but I've never had the inkling to make it because it always seemed so complicated to create in my mind. But I recently made it with my host mother and it actually is pretty simple. To make tiramisu, you'll need sweet sponge cake biscuits (ladyfingers), coffee, a mixture of eggs, sugar and mascarpone cheese, topped with cocoa. Make your coffee, and set it aside to let it cool. Make the egg, sugar, and mascarpone mixture. Then, dip the ladyfingers in the coffee, arrange them so they cover the bottom of the casserole dish, and spread the mascarpone cream over the ladyfingers. Keep adding layers of ladyfingers and mascarpone cream until you reach the top of the dish, then sprinkle with cocoa powder. Once finished, there is no need to put the tiramisu in the oven. Place it in the fridge for three hours, or even an overnight before serving.
Cioccolato con Panna
Lastly, we have an extremely sweet version of hot chocolate that my host family made recently. Basically, my family melted chocolate on the stove and obtained fresh whipped cream from the corner Gelateria. Then we put the melted chocolate in a mug, added a few dollops of fresh cream, and topped it with cinnamon. They call this yummy drink cioccolato con panna (chocolate with cream), and it will definitely warm you up on a chilly or rainy day!
So there you have it, those are 3 delicious meals and 2 tasty desserts that I have had recently in Italy. They are all mouth-watering as they are made from quality ingredients which contribute to their unique flavors. I could go on more about the different dishes I've had here that are amazing, but I'll have to save that for another day. For now, I hope you can enjoy these and try to make them at home! Buon Appetito!
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