8 Simple Homemade Italian Recipes

To be honest, some of the most delicious, mouthwatering and classiest recipes belong to Italian cuisine. For a long time, Italian cuisine has been associated with a certain class, but that’s not to say that they aren’t now; it’s just that now you can enjoy these recipes from the comfort of your home. No, not by you sitting down and ordering the dish from your favorite Italian restaurant; no, I mean by you getting up and trying to make these recipes yourself or with your partner.

So, Italian cuisine has everything, whether it’s cheesy lasagna, pasta, meatballs or spaghetti. Also, the best part of Italian cuisine is that you have to put in the work. Hence it can be a good conversation starter or bonding session. Anyway, enough about all that, let’s get to the fun stuff; here are 9 easy-to-make classic Italian recipes.

Italian Meatballs

What can be said about Italian meatballs that you already don’t know? This classic Italian recipe is always a crowd pleaser no matter where you serve them, whether at family gatherings, parties or just a quiet night at home with your loved ones.

Italian meatballs are usually made with garlic, fresh bread crumbs, eggs, and not forgetting the three kinds of meat ground pork, Italian sausage and ground beef, which give it that mouthwatering appeal. With Italian meatballs, you can be as creative as you wish, be it on the ingredients you use or how you prepare them, and as a result, you can turn it into a family recipe that you can pass down to your young ones.

Italian meatballs are best served in tomato sauce, especially the homemade kind. Remember, when shaping the meatballs, don’t pack them too tightly because they’ll become dense and tough. Always keep everything cold because once the meatball mixture becomes extremely hot, the fat starts to melt and break down, making the shaping of the meatballs quite hard.

Lasagna

Are you looking for comfort food? Why not try to make lasagna? It is regarded as the ultimate comfort food due to its ability to hit just the right spot that makes you forget all your worries and immerse your focus and senses into its deliciousness.

Lasagna is one of the world-renowned Italian recipes, with each part of the world now adding its flair to this classic Italian dish. As a result, you can also pla around with the ingredients and cooking methods; as long as you remember, the basic principle behind making the perfect lasagna is simplicity. So don’t go about complicating things.

The layering portion of lasagna preparation also gives you the chance to show off your creativity and cooking skills but let’s be honest; nothing beats the original, authentic, traditional Italian lasagna. Also, lasagna can be served anytime, making it even more appealing.

Minestrone Soup

Now, this simple Italian soup is one for the ages. It’s quite obvious that most of us find it hard to include healthy vegetables in our meals because of various reasons despite them being good for us, so why not try making Minestrone Soup? Minestrone Soup is a colorful Italian soup that combines pasta and hearty veggies so tell me, what is healthier than that? I’ll wait.

This easy Italian recipe can be served during lunch or dinner, showing you its filling and satisfaction capability. Minestrone Soup is such an adaptable Italian food that originally, it was intended to be a way of making use of whatever vegetables were in the household. If you observe a gluten-free diet, you can use gluten-free or legume pasta.

Minestrone Soup can be garnished with pesto, and if you don’t have any laying around, don’t worry because you get to be creative. You can garnish it using parmesan or roman cheese heck, or you can also use fresh parsley. So, to add more Italian authenticity to the dish, you can serve Minestrone Soup alongside a salad such as Arugula or Kale.

Margherita Pizza

Of all the Italian recipes, one of the most recognizable dishes is pizza. With pizza, it’s all about creativity, and the Margherita Pizza embodies just that, with most people likening its toppings to the Italian flag, which, when come to think of it, is true since you have green from the basil, red from the tomato sauce and white from the mozzarella.

Also, there is a belief that Margherita Pizza pays homage to the late Italian queen, Queen Margherita of Savoy, whose reign was during the 1800s, and that’s part of its charm. So, what Italian food can claim such history as the Margherita Pizza?

Preparing the Margherita Pizza requires you to adhere to the classic Italian tradition of using a pizza stone, peal and oven though the oven is optional; that way, you’ll be able to get the authentic crispy on the outside crust. The best part about this classic Italian pizza is that it’s vegetarian; hence anyone can enjoy it.

Pesto Pasta

As one of the easiest Italian recipes, pasta is a highly adaptive and versatile dish that can be regarded as a blank canvas. Since you can put your spin on it and create an amazing delicacy, all you need is the spirit to explore and experiment. Because of the versatility of pasta, Italian cuisine gives you Pesto Pasta. Pesto Pasta is a simple Italian recipe that screams perfection when paired with al dente noodles and a hint of parmesan, not forgetting homemade basil pesto.

Since pesto goes with absolutely anything, you can use any pasta noodles. This dish is highly nutritious and vegetarian. Whether vegan or dairy-free, you can enjoy this easy Italian recipe by tweaking a few of the ingredients.

This classic Italian recipe stands out because the pasta is always meant to be firm, not gooey, thus making it more satisfying. So, when preparing Pesto Pasta, always be vigilant since the pasta can easily go from al dente to overcooked in an instant.

Muffuletta

Muffuletta should be included when speaking of exotic and authentic Italian recipes that you can make from the comfort of your home. Don’t let the name scare you. Muffuletta is a simple Italian sandwich made of piled-high layers of nutritious, healthy, colorful veggies and tasty meats.

Once you try this classic Italian sandwich, your palate will change forever, and you’ll find it hard to return to your regular sandwiches. As they say, once you go muffuletta.. the most important and key player of the muffuletta sandwich is fresh olive salad; a combination of capers, peppers, olives, garlic, and giardiniera mixed in a food processor.

Your creativity should kick in when layering since you’ll be in charge of what ratios of meat and veggies you want. Also, feel free to make the recipe use and create a muffuletta that will be the envy of your friends or book club. Muffuletta packs a punch; you can have it for breakfast or lunch.

Pasta Fagioli Al Forno

A question, what’s fancier, classier, and more exotic than preparing a dish that even you can’t seem to get the pronunciation right? If you aren’t Italian or have any knowledge of Italian, that is. From its name, Pasta Fagioli al Forno is a mouthful, and you could use it to boast to your friends about your cooking skills and limits. Let’s hope they don’t consider it a letdown when they find that it translates to pasta baked with beans.

If they do, give them a test, not much a test, and they will reconsider joining your Pasta Fagioli al Forno bandwagon in two seconds. Pasta Fagioli al Forno is a mouthwatering simple Italian dish filled with flavor thanks to its array of ingredients: basil, red pepper flakes, tomatoes, Italian sausage and oregano.

What’s more interesting about Pasta Fagioli al Forno is that it’s prepared with two kinds of cheese. I mean two kinds of cheeses; if that doesn’t get your appetite motor going, I don’t know what will.

Calzone

You must try the classic Italian recipe of Calzone. A Calzone is a giant pizza pocket with fillings in between. As a traditional Italian food, the Calzones were originally stuffed with cheeses, cured meats and the vegetables of your choice.

Come to think of it; Calzones can be a very good disguise to get your children or partner to eat their vegetables. Of all the Italian recipes, Calzones are much easier to make, contrary to popular belief, because the hard part is usually making the dough. Still, you can get that in most stores ready-made, but if you fancy a challenge, go for it because it’s quite similar to making pizza dough.

Remember never to overstuff your Calzones since the crust might get soggy or the stuffing may ooze out while in the oven. Due to their contents, Calzone is an excellent dish to be served during lunch, playdates and even parties.

Italian recipes are among the most popular cuisines in the world, so don’t limit yourself to your native cuisine. The list above contains some popular yet simple Italian recipes you can try at home, but don’t let that limit you; there are many other classic Italian recipes you can try.

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