Italian Cooking Recipes

Italian cooking is not really as difficult as it sounds but knowing the basics of Italian cooking would certainly help you in whipping up mouth-watering dishes in no time. If cooking is a passion for you, then trying out Italian cooking recipes can prove to be really exciting with lip smacking rewards. Italian cooking can be exotic or even romantic to the imaginative few! The versatility is also one factor that probably makes Italian cooking a favorite with many. Here are some assorted Italian cooking recipes which may seem tough to prepare, but would prove to be easy once you begin with the whole process!

Italian Cooking Recipes:

Lemon Pasta:

Ingredients:
Long Pasta- either dried spaghetti/fresh fettuccine (1 Pound)
Cloves Of Garlic - Minced (2 Medium)
Olive Oil (1/2 Cup)
Juice and Zest of Lemons (2)
Fresh Chopped Parsley (1 Cup)
Toasted Pine Nuts (3/4 Cup)
Salt & Pepper

Preparation:

First, you would need to mix the garlic, oil, lemon zest, parsley and the juice together. Then, season it with some salt and pepper. Now, add the toasted pine nuts to this. Stir this well and let it set for a couple of hours, as it will help the flavors to blend. Then, you would need to cook the pasta in boiling salted water. Once you are through with this, you would need to drain it. Before you do so, place around 1 cup of the pasta water aside.

Now, place the pasta in the pot with the lemon sauce. Cook this over high heat. Keep adding some of the pasta water to this mixture. This will prevent it from drying out completely. Once the preparation turns piping hot, remove it from the heat. Before you serve it, be sure to remove the pine nuts from the bottom of the pot and place it on top of the pasta. Serve hot with a wedge of lemon! Umm, this delicious Italian cooking recipe would taste sumptuous with some grilled shrimp on top of this as well.

Purè di patate (Mashed potatoes the Italian way!):

Ingredients
Potatoes (1 kg)
Milk (1 liter)
Salt to taste
Butter (40g)

Preparation:

Boil the potatoes till they get cooked well. Peel the potatoes and mash them well. You can even use a potato ricer. Your next step would be to warm the milk in a pan. These potatoes need to be added to the milk. Cook slowly with occasion stirring. Add some amount of salt to taste. Some more quantity of the milk can be added to this so that it sustains the right consistency-neither too thick nor too watery. Then, add some butter to this. Serve hot. The purée you have prepared can be reheated. Beat an egg. Then mix the potatoes along with some grated Parmesan cheese and an adequate quantity of chopped up bacon. Place this in a buttered and oven proof dish. Sprinkle some breadcrumbs. Cook this is an oven at 180 degrees F. Cook for a period of 15 minutes.

Sage and Parsley-Fried Finger Foods:

Such an Italian cooking recipe would prove to be an instant hit at cocktail parties. This is a traditional and easy finger food recipe.

Ingredients
Sage leaves (24)
Little sprigs of parsley (20)
Olive oil
White flour (100g-3 1/2 oz)
Salt

Preparation:

Wash the parsley gently in a bowl that is full of cold water. Pat it dry with some absorbent paper. Use some paper to wipe the sage leaves, as you must avoid washing it. You would now need to prepare the batter. Put some flour in the bowl and add mineral water to it slowly. Beat this with the help of a whisk at a continuous pace so that you can avoid the formation of lumps. Then, heat some olive oil in a non-stick frying pan. Dip the fresh herbs into the batter and fry them in this till they turn a shade of golden brown. Now, remove them with the help of a slotted spoon. Sprinkle some salt on this. Serve it hot and accompany it with some sparkling white wine.