All recipes

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MarocchinoEspresso with cocoa and milk foam

The marocchino was born in the bars of Alessandria in Piedmont, and it is now ordered all over northern Italy: a little glass dusted inside with cocoa, filled with an espresso and topped with milk foam and more cocoa, sometimes with a spoonful of chocolate sauce at the bottom. Its name comes from the brown colour of a leather called "marocchino" once used for hat bands. It is a mid-morning or afternoon treat. Contains caffeine. Chef's tip: dust the empty glass with cocoa before pouring the coffee in; it sticks to the hot glass and gives each sip a chocolate edge.

5 min

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BicerinLayered chocolate and coffee drink

The bicerin ("little glass" in Piedmontese dialect) has been served since 1763 at the tiny Caffè al Bicerin opposite the Consolata church in Turin, where it was the drink that churchgoers had after fasting before Mass. It is three layers in a small glass: thick hot chocolate at the bottom, espresso in the middle and cold, lightly whipped cream on top, not stirred, so you taste each layer in turn. Contains caffeine. Chef's tip: pour the coffee and then the cream slowly over the back of a spoon so the layers sit on top of each other instead of mixing.

10 min

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Caffè d'orzoBarley coffee

In Italian bars you can always ask for "un orzo": a hot drink made from roasted barley that looks like coffee and has a toasty, slightly sweet taste but no caffeine. During the war, when coffee was scarce, families drank it every morning, and today it is given to children, pregnant women and anyone avoiding caffeine. It can be made in a moka pot, served in a small cup like espresso or in a large one with milk. Barley contains gluten. Chef's tip: don't press the barley into the moka basket like coffee; packed tightly, it blocks the water and the pot hisses.

7 min

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CiambelloneItalian ring cake

Every Italian nonna has her own ciambellone, the tall, plain ring cake that sits under a glass dome on the kitchen counter for breakfast, sliced and dunked in caffellatte or eaten with jam. It is made with eggs, sugar, flour and oil or butter, flavoured with lemon zest, and often marbled with cocoa. In Rome and Emilia it is also the cake brought to friends' houses and church fêtes. Chef's tip: whisk the eggs and sugar for a full 8 minutes, until very pale and thick; that air is what makes the cake rise tall without much baking powder.

60 min

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Scarola alla napoletanaSautéed escarole with olives and raisins

Scarola alla napoletana is a Neapolitan Christmas Eve side dish, also cooked all winter: tender escarole sautéed with garlic, black Gaeta olives, capers, pine nuts and raisins, a balance of bitter, salty and sweet that reflects the Arab influence on southern Italian cooking. It is the same filling used in the Christmas pizza di scarola, and families often serve it with fried fish. Contains pine nuts. Chef's tip: dry the washed escarole well before it goes in the pan; wet leaves splash and steam rather than sauté.

25 min

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OrzataAlmond syrup drink

Orzata was first made from barley (orzo), but in Liguria, Sardinia and Sicily it has long been made from almonds: a milky, sweet almond syrup, diluted with ice-cold water and drunk on hot summer afternoons in seaside bars and at home. Its gentle almond and orange-blossom flavour makes it a children's favourite. Contains nuts. Chef's tip: soak the blanched almonds in water for an hour before blending; they release more milk and the syrup is richer.

20 min

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Cappuccino

In Italy the cappuccino is strictly a breakfast drink, ordered at the bar counter with a cornetto before 11 in the morning, never after a meal. It is a single espresso topped with an equal amount of hot milk and a thick cap of velvety foam, named after the brown habits of Capuchin friars. Baristas in Turin and Trieste are famous for their thick, glossy microfoam. Contains caffeine, so it's not for children. Chef's tip: heat the milk only to about 65 °C, when the jug is too hot to hold for more than a second; hotter milk tastes cooked and the foam collapses.

5 min

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PeperonataStewed peppers and onions

Peperonata is the summer side dish of the south, made from Naples to Palermo when red and yellow peppers are at their sweetest: strips of pepper and onion stewed slowly in olive oil with a little tomato until soft, glossy and sweet, sometimes with a splash of vinegar. Families serve it with grilled meat, sausages or a frittata, or pile it on bread, and it tastes even better the next day. Chef's tip: cook it slowly with the lid on for the first 15 minutes; the peppers steam in their own juice and turn silky instead of frying hard.

45 min

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Cioccolata caldaThick hot chocolate

Italian hot chocolate is not a milky drink but almost a pudding: thick enough to coat a spoon, made with real dark chocolate and cocoa thickened with a little starch. On cold winter afternoons in Turin, Florence and Perugia, families sit in historic cafés with a cup topped with whipped cream (con panna), dipping biscuits into it. Children love it. Chef's tip: mix the cornflour and cocoa with a little cold milk to a smooth paste first; dropped straight into hot milk, they form lumps.

15 min

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Canestrelli liguriFlower shortbread biscuits

Canestrelli are the most delicate biscuits in Liguria: daisy-shaped shortbread with a hole in the middle, so fragile they melt in the mouth. The secret is hard-boiled egg yolks pushed through a sieve into the dough, with potato starch, which makes them crumbly and sandy. They are sold in Genoa and the hill town of Torriglia, piled in paper and covered with snowy icing sugar. Chef's tip: work the dough as little as possible and keep it cold; warm dough becomes too soft to cut into neat flowers.

45 min

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Asparagi alla milaneseAsparagus with fried egg

In Milan in April, when the first fat green asparagus come down from the farms of Lombardy, they are served "alla milanese": boiled until just tender, laid on a plate with melted butter and Parmigiano, and topped with a fried egg whose runny yolk becomes the sauce. It is a light lunch or a spring starter in old Milanese trattorie. Parmigiano is made with animal rennet; a vegetarian hard cheese works. For pregnant women, young children and older people, cook the yolk until firm. Chef's tip: tie the asparagus in a bundle and stand it upright in the pan so the thick stems boil while the tender tips steam.

20 min

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Scarcella puglieseEaster egg biscuit bread

In Bari, Foggia and the Salento, scarcelle are baked in the days before Easter, often by children with their grandmothers: a soft, lemony shortbread-like dough shaped into baskets, doves, hearts or dolls, each holding a whole egg in its shell held down by strips of dough, then iced and covered in sprinkles. They are given as gifts on Easter morning and to children as a sign of new life. Chef's tip: use raw eggs in their shells and wash them first; they cook in the oven while the biscuit bakes. They are decorative, so wash and dry them well.

75 min

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Cicoria ripassataSautéed bitter chicory

In Rome and across Puglia, cicoria is the bitter green that arrives at every market from autumn to spring, often gathered wild in the fields. It is boiled first to soften its bitterness, then "ripassata", passed through the pan again with garlic, chilli and olive oil. Roman trattorie serve it next to roast lamb or saltimbocca, and in Puglia it is the classic partner for fava bean purée. Chef's tip: boil the chicory in plenty of well-salted water and then squeeze it hard; most of the harsh bitterness goes down the drain with the water.

30 min

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Torta capreseFlourless chocolate almond cake

Torta caprese was born on the island of Capri in the 1920s, the story goes, when a baker forgot to add flour to a chocolate almond cake and created a classic by accident. It is now the cake of the Amalfi Coast: dense, moist and fudgy in the middle, with a thin crackled crust and a dusting of icing sugar. Restaurants in Capri and Sorrento serve it with a spoonful of cream or lemon sorbet. It is naturally gluten free. Contains nuts. Chef's tip: take it out while the middle is still slightly soft; it firms up as it cools and stays moist for days.

65 min

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RicciarelliSoft almond biscuits

Siena has been making ricciarelli since the Renaissance: soft, chewy almond biscuits in the shape of a diamond or a curved eye, with a crackled top covered in icing sugar. Sienese families buy them from the historic pasticcerie near the Campo at Christmas and serve them with a glass of Vin Santo after dinner, but they are eaten all winter with coffee. This recipe is naturally gluten free. Chef's tip: let the shaped biscuits dry at room temperature overnight before baking; a dry crust cracks beautifully in the oven while the inside stays soft.

35 min

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Fagiolini in umidoBraised green beans in tomato

In Tuscany, vegetables are often cooked "in umido", slowly in a little tomato until they are soft and full of flavour, rather than crisp. Florentine families make fagiolini in umido in summer with flat runner beans or green beans, garlic, a spoonful of tomato and plenty of olive oil, and serve them warm or cold next to roast chicken or boiled meat. They are even better reheated the next day. Chef's tip: don't rush them; the beans should be fully soft and soaked in sauce, not bright green and crunchy.

45 min

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Torta della nonnaLemon custard pine nut tart

Torta della nonna, "grandmother's tart", is on the dessert menu of almost every trattoria in Florence and across Tuscany: a shortcrust case filled with thick lemon-scented custard, covered with a second layer of pastry and scattered with pine nuts and icing sugar. Despite the name it was probably invented by a Florentine restaurant cook in the 1900s, but it tastes of family Sunday lunches. Contains pine nuts. Chef's tip: let the custard cool completely before filling the tart; warm custard melts the butter in the pastry and makes the base soggy.

90 min

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RoccocòHard almond spice rings

Roccocò are the hardest biscuits on the Neapolitan Christmas tray, ring-shaped and studded with whole almonds, scented with orange and pisto spice. The name is said to come from the curly French "rocaille" shape. They are baked in early December, and Neapolitans dunk them in sweet wine or milk, or break them carefully, because they are famously hard on teeth. Chef's tip: bake them twice as long as you think and leave them to dry overnight; roccocò are meant to be crunchy, and they soften pleasantly after a week in the tin.

50 min

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PizzelleAnise waffle biscuits

In Abruzzo, every family has its own pizzelle iron, often a wedding present engraved with the family's initials or a pattern of flowers. The thin, crisp waffles are baked for weddings, Christmas and Easter, and for the feast of San Domenico in Cocullo, flavoured with anise or lemon. Warm, they can be rolled into cones or tubes and filled. You need a pizzelle iron or a thin waffle maker. Chef's tip: lightly oil the iron only for the first pizzella; after that the batter's oil keeps them from sticking.

30 min

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Pesche dolciCustard-filled peach biscuits

Pesche dolci are the showpiece biscuits of weddings and christenings across central and northern Italy, from Emilia to the Marche and Tuscany: two soft, domed biscuits hollowed out, filled with custard, stuck together, tinted rosy red and yellow and rolled in sugar, finished with a mint leaf so they look just like real peaches. Many families soak them in alchermes, a red liqueur; this version uses fruit syrup and food colouring instead, so it is alcohol free and child friendly. Chef's tip: brush the colour on unevenly, red on one side and pale gold on the other, like a ripe peach; one flat colour looks fake.

80 min

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Torta tenerinaSoft chocolate cake

Ferrara, in Emilia-Romagna, calls this cake "tenerina" (the tender one) because the middle stays soft and almost creamy under a thin, crackly crust. It was created in the early 1900s and named in honour of Queen Elena of Montenegro, wife of King Vittorio Emanuele III. Families bake it for birthdays and Sunday lunches, and it is served plain or with whipped cream. It uses very little flour. Chef's tip: bake it for no longer than the recipe says; it should be just set at the edge and wobbly in the middle when it comes out.

40 min

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Migliaccio napoletanoSemolina and ricotta cake

Migliaccio is the cake Neapolitan grandmothers bake on Fat Tuesday, the last day of Carnival before Lent. Its name comes from miglio, millet, which was used before semolina: today semolina is cooked in milk with butter, then mixed with ricotta, eggs, sugar and plenty of orange and lemon zest, and baked into a soft, dense, custardy cake. It is a close cousin of the Easter pastiera, without the pastry. Chef's tip: let the cooked semolina cool before beating in the eggs and ricotta; hot semolina scrambles the eggs and the cake turns grainy.

85 min

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Savoiardi

Savoiardi were created in the 1300s at the court of the House of Savoy in Piedmont, for a visit by the King of France. They are long, light finger biscuits of whipped eggs, sugar and flour, with a crisp sugary crust and a dry, spongy inside, made to be soaked: in coffee for tiramisù, in liqueur for zuppa inglese, or in milk for children's breakfast. Chef's tip: dust the piped fingers twice with icing sugar, 5 minutes apart; this forms the pearly crust that keeps them crisp outside.

37 min