International Cuisine @ Home - Italian

[photo source]

We begin this series on International Cuisine @ Home with my favourite of all cuisines, Italian.  I will aim to feature as many cuisines I know and what one might stock in a home kitchen to reproduce these foods at home.  Once you start to read a few of them, you'll find the ingredients will be very similar. It's usually the cooking process that determines where its from. I try to keep these basics in my larder, that span across a variety of countries, so I am able to have a variety of meals at home.

From the pantry:

Pasta, rice, flour, tinned tomatoes, chick peas (garbanzo beans or ceci), cannellini beans, berlotti beans, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, sugar, stock powder/cubes, breadcrumbs, yeast, nuts (eg walnuts, pine nuts, almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts), polenta, tomato paste, passata (cooked tomato sauce already flavoured)

From the fridge:

Beef, pork, chicken, veal, cured meats (eg pepperoni, proscuitto), ricotta cheese, marscapone cheese, parmesan cheese, cream, eggs, milk, butter

Fruit & vegetables:

Onion, garlic, tomatoes, celery, carrots, potatoes, spinach, broccolli, eggplant, zucchini and their flowers (corgette), capsicum (bell peppers), asparagus, pumpkin (butternut squash), leeks, radishes, beets, mushrooms, fennel, artichokes, beans, prickly pears, lettuce varieties (eg rocket, radicchio), lemons, apples, berries, oranges and other citrus fruit, pears, grapes, peaches, plums, cherries

Herbs & spices:

Basil, oregano, parsley, marjoram, chilli flakes, thyme, garlic, sage, peperonicini (hot chilli flakes), rosemary, mint, nutmeg, saffron, vanilla

Make your own pasta

Pasta e polpette (Pasta & meatballs)

 

Caramelised Carrot Risotto


Italian Garbanzos (chick peas) and Sausage



Spaghetti con pollo e funghi (Chicken & Mushroom Pasta)



Zuppa di Fagioli Rossi (Red Bean Soup)

Beef & eggplant lasagna


Chicken & vegetable risoni



Eggplant parmigiana & mozarella stack



Osso Buco with tomatoes & gremolata



Silverbeet & ricotta lasagna



Pesto genovese



Cannellini Bean Spread / White Bean Dip



Easy polenta



Orange & Fennel Salad



Pistachio & Cranberry Biscotti



Easy Pizza dough

So, there's so many different varieties of Italian food but the ingredients are found in most homes. Let the seasonal produce dictate what you're going to cook.  Remember, substitute, substitute, substitute.

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