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Tips and tricks - Learn and improve your cooking skills.. |
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Know all about spices - use spices and herbs in cooking, marinades and seasonings. |
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The words "Italian cooking" make many people think hungrily of pizza, ravioli, and spaghetti smothered in tomato sauce. Juicy tomatoes, cheese, and tasty noodles are certainly used often by Italian cooks.
However, there is much more to Italian cuisine. Heritage and family are two of the most important ingredients in all Italian cooking. Gathering friends and family around the table to share a meal is a highly valued part of social life in Italy. And just as every region of this varied land has a culinary specialty, so does every household and kitchen.
But as traditional as it is, Italian recipes are also very flexible. Most dishes require only a few simple ingredients, and these may vary seasonally and even daily.
Italian cooks like to shop every day to ensure that their dishes include only the freshest, most flavorful foods. Whatever is available at the market and looks the tastiest will probably determine what is for dinner that day! As the quick and easy Italian recipes with pictures in this blog show, colorful fruits and vegetables, olive oil, rice,and fresh herbs make simple Italian recipes as diverse as it is delicious.
There's something so wonderful about Italian cooking. Maybe it's because the dishes are so simple, honest, and straightforward. Or perhaps it's because the Italians use only the finest ingredients and never overload them with fussy sauces. Lunch is the most important meal of the day so much so that at noon the country almost comes to a stand still. Pasta or risotto is eaten as a first course, followed by a second course of meat or fish served with salad or vegetables.
Pasta is so endlessly versatile, teaming well with almost every ingredient under the sun. In the recipes in this chapter, we serve it with fish, seafood, cheese, and tomatoes, as well as with a classic Bolognese sauce. We always use dried pasta as the Italians do it's so convenient to have in the house. But you can use fresh pasta if you prefer, although its texture is not always so good. Our pasta of choice is a trusted Italian brand, made from 100 percent durum wheat (semola di grano duro). It keeps for several months in a tightly closed package.
