Many people all over the world love Italian cuisine, and it is clearly one of the most popular types of food there are, in restaurants and beyond. If you are keen to try and improve your Italian cooking, or you are just starting to try it out, then you might need to know about some of the essentials that are to be found in that type of cooking. Let’s take a look at some of the essentials behind Italian cooking right now, so you can more effectively learn to cook Italian without trouble. You might be surprised at the ease and simplicity of this.
Homemade Pasta
Photo Credit: CCO License
Being Seasonal
Being seasonal is important in a lot of cuisine types, but in Italian it is pretty much essential. You need to make sure that you are pretty much only using those whole foods which are currently in season. You’ll be amazed at how easy it is to cook Italian in this way, and how little you need to deviate from this while still creating beautiful, delicious meals that everyone will love. Make it a point that you will always be seasonal, and just watch what it does to your Italian cooking. You’ll likely be amazed.
Homemade Pasta
The great secret about homemade pasta is that it is actually very easy indeed, even though people assume it would be very challenging. If you have a pasta machine, that helps for rolling it out, but even that is not necessary – and a traditional Italian chef would deride you for using one anyway! Pasta is simply egg yolks mixed with OO pasta flour on a work surface, and then rolled out. It is very simple, and effective, with delicious results. Then you can use it in lasagne, an Italian pasta salad, a bolognese, or whatever else takes your fancy.
Rich Tomato Sauce
Once you have a good tomato sauce to use as a base, you can pretty much create any Italian meal. It is therefore a pretty good idea to spend some time on trying to perfect your own tomato sauce. As it happens, this is again quite simple. Just make sure that you keep the heat low and cook it for a long time, and that you use appropriate seasoning and herbs. Over time you will learn a few tricks about how to make it even more delicious. It’s a really enjoyable thing to create, and you’ll be able to use it in everything.
Freshly baked pizza right from the oven
Photo Credit: CCO License
Olive Oil
As you might have already discovered, in Italian cooking olive oil goes on absolutely everything. If you are not already doing this, you should absolutely make sure that you are going to add olive oil to whatever you are cooking, as it is a really effective way of ensuring that you can add a lot of authentic Italian flavor to a dish. And of course, you should make sure that you are using the best quality olive oil you can afford. If you do this, it’s a simple and effective way to make your Italian dishes so much better.
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