Italian Classics

Traditional Italian recipes passed down through generations.

by alex_foodie•10 recipes•Updated 10/19/2025
Penne Rigate with Sausage, Mushrooms, and Ricotta

Penne Rigate with Sausage, Mushrooms, and Ricotta

This recipe will become a regular request from your family and guests. It is often known as boscaiola, or “of the forest,” because of the earthy mushrooms in the sauce. Definitely one of Tanya’s favorites, this dish spent many years on the menu of my restaurants. On cold winter nights in New York City, when Tanya and her teenage friends had no other place to go, I would serve them this pasta followed by hot chocolate in our private dining room. I loved seeing them so full, chatty, and happy. It is easy to assemble, flavorful, and filling.

4 servings
Italian
001
Barley Risotto with Cabbage and Sausage

Barley Risotto with Cabbage and Sausage

Tanya absolutely loves the combination of cabbage and sausage, and this dish is one of her favorites. Today we are all cooking with more and different grains. Barley is an ancient grain, one of the first grains cultivated, more than eight thousand years ago, and is used around the world. Every region of Italy uses it—as flour to make pasta, for breads and porridges, in soups, as a contorno, in stews—and I use it here in a risotto. Barley does not release starch as short-grain rice does, and so, when making a barley risotto, I cook the barley separately, drain it, and add it to the flavoring of the risotto I want to make—in this case, cabbage and sausage. Then I apply the last step of a regular risotto, mantecare, mixing the flavored barley with butter and grated Grana Padano to make it creamy. I par-cook the barley like pasta in this recipe, since it takes much longer to cook than rice.

6 servings
Italian
001
Crespelle

Crespelle

Crespelle, Italian crêpes, are one of the most versatile recipes in the kitchen. You can use them shredded in soups, layered in lasagna, stuffed and rolled in manicotti, or baked with vegetables and pesto, and if you add some sugar to the batter, you can make endless forms of dessert with them. My favorite dessert rendition is to slather them with some rose hip jam, roll them into cigars, and eat them. I could not get enough of them in my childhood. I like to make a big batch of crespelle—once you get going, they are done in no time, and you can freeze or refrigerate the extras.

4 servings
Italian
001
Onion and Potato Gratin

Onion and Potato Gratin

This is a great dish to make when I am cooking for the whole family or a large group, since it goes in the oven and doesn’t require a lot of prep time or attention while it’s cooking. Onions, potatoes, cream, and cheese come together here, in the ultimate side dish. This gratin is easy to put together; then just slip it into the oven, next to whatever you are roasting, and toss a salad, and your balanced meal is done. Think about this dish when you are having people over for brunch or breakfast. Make it in a large baking pan, cut it into squares, and serve each portion on a dish with a fried or poached egg or two on top.

4 servings
Italian
001
Bucatini all’Amatriciana

Bucatini all’Amatriciana

Although today this dish is most commonly associated with Rome, it is originally from Amatrice, a town in the region of Lazio, north of the city, in the agricultural area of the Gran Sasso mountain range. It was originally made with a white sauce, before tomatoes were introduced to Italy in the eighteenth century, but the key ingredients now are jowl bacon (called guanciale), olive oil, ripe plum tomatoes, and pecorino cheese, cooked together in a lightweight cast-iron pan. This is my personal rendition, and deviates from the traditional version with the addition of sliced onions, for texture and sweetness, as well as some peperoncino and, to add complexity, bay leaves, which are one of my favorite herbs.

4 servings
Italian
001