A large selection of Italian recipes, each with a picture

Italian cuisine varies enormously from one region to the next. Veneto is the home of risottos, Piedmont is famous for mushrooms of all types. But pasta, tomatoes and olive oil form the basis of much Italian cooking.

Click on any picture in the Italian recipes below for full cooking instructions.

QUICK ITALIAN TOMATO PASTA SAUCE This is a really tasty recipe for an authentic Italian sauce. It can be used over almost any type of pasta and it goes great with meatballs.
RAGU This is a North Italian recipe of minced beef, tomatoes and herbs. The key to a good ragu is to cook it slowly for 2 to 4 hours on a low heat. The result is a thick sauce with a very concentrated tomato flavour.
RISOTTO MEATBALLS STUFFED WITH MOZZARELLA Cook plain risotto rice, form it into small balls then stuff it with mozzarella cheese. Coat with breadcrumbs and flour then fry in oil. Delicious!
FRITTATA RECIPES We give you two more frittata recipes on one page. An asparagus and feta cheese version together with a bacon, mushroom and sweet pepper version.
RED PEPPER AND SAUSAGE RISOTTO Use good Italian sausage for this recipe, Cacciatore is ideal, and you will have a meal fit for a king. The creamy risotto rice with the slightly crunchy re peppers is superb.
SPAGHETTI BOLOGNAISE To be truthful, the bolognaise sauces outside of Italy are not really Italian. They are a variation of ragu (see above). But they are tasty and they don't come any more tasty than our recipe!
ROASTED MUSHROOM RISOTTO This risotto stands out because the mushrooms are roasted in the oven before adding them to the risotto. This concentrates their flavour wonderfully.
LASAGNE No set of Italian recipes would be complete without Lasagne. It's not the easiest of dishes to cook but it really does taste so much better that the wishy washy shop bought alternatives.
CHICKEN RISOTTO Another Milanese risotto based recipe. This time it's combined with strips of fried chicken with red peppers and peas. Colourful, yes. Tasty, definitely.
VEGETABLE FRITTATA This is our basic version of a vegetable frittata. But feel free to substitute any vegetable of your choice. We have even heard of some people replacing the potatoes with spaghetti.
SUN DRIED TOMATO RISOTTO Saffron brings superb colour and taste to this traditional Milanese risotto based recipe. Add a splash of red with the sun dried tomatoes and you can imagine yourself back in Italy.