Making Italian Dishes At Home Is Fun And Easy

People in most countries come across archetypal Italian-American dishes that derived from the dishes of Southern Italy. These Italian-American dishes consist of thick tomato sauces, pizza and pasta. Sadly, this is how people from all over the world view Italian cuisine. In reality, however, Italian food has many varieties, as each area of Italy has its own uniqueness.

One must understand that Italian food is not just about pizza and pasta. The Italians have exceptional techniques of cooking rice, vegetables, seafood, and meat. The finest thing about Italian food is its simplicity. They efficiently use fresh seasonal herbs, fruits and vegetables. None of the dishes need more than eight to nine ingredients. With proper equipment, skill, and love for the food, anyone can cook Italian dishes at home. It is a guarantee that the dishes will taste as good as in any quality Italian restaurant.

Following are the basic equipment one must have in the kitchen to prepare Italian food:

· Pasta Machine: It is usually made of stainless steel, and comes with various attachments. Rolling out of pastas in different shapes and sizes depends on the type of the attachment.

· Pasta Pot: It is a typical pot for cooking pastas.

· Mezzaluna: It is a sharp, half moon-shaped knife. It has its handles at the ends of the blade. It is extremely proficient in giving finely cut vegetables and herbs.

· Grater: Italian dishes use lots of cheese. A grater is perfect to give you finely grated cheese.

Italian cuisine is simple and very easy to make at home. Following are the recipes of the three most popular Italian dishes:

Bruschetta:

Buy French or Italian bread, which has a thick and crispy crust. Grill or toast them. Slice one fresh garlic and brush a little on one side of the bread with it. Pour tomato purée over the bread. Place a slice of mozzarella cheese. If you are a vegetarian, you can top the bruschetta with slightly fried veggies like zucchini and eggplant. If you are not, top the bruschetta with anchovy fillet or chicken slice. Pour some extra-virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and chopped olives to finish the dish.

Pasta:

Take 2 cups of semolina flour (for best results) in a mixing bowl and crack three eggs into it. Knead it for 15 minutes. If it is lumpy, add a little water. Roll and make a dough ball. Wrap it in a plastic and keep it for 30 minutes. Put a little flour on the surface where you need to roll it. Make sure the roll is extremely thin. Stretch it and let dry for a while. Now, pass the sheet through the pasta machine. Boil the pasta slices in salted water for about 5 minutes. When the pasta floats to the top, drain the water and add the sauce. There are many pasta sauce recipes on the web. Use the one you like the most.

Risotto:

Chop onions and garlic, and cook them in olive oil until they are brownish. Put in chopped green pepper, and mushrooms (you can use any ingredient - both vegetables and meat). Add wine and a little vegetable stock. Now, add risotto rice (one with high starch amount). Keep on adding water slowly until the rice soaks it. When the rice is perfectly cooked, top the dish with Parmesan cheese and serve it hot.