Italian food dictionary

Italians are experts in this cooking method. In fact, al dente is the best way to cook pasta or rice: it means when the outside part of soft but the inside is a bit firm or _al dente_.

This is a wonderful recipe from the Lazio region to dress spaghetti or bucatini. It’s made using pork cheek fried in extra virgin olive oil, half a glass of white wine, tomato, chili pepper and pecorino cheese. This flavorful sauce comes from the town of Amatrice in the province of Rieti.

Don’t worry... you don’t have to get in an argument for this recipe to come out well. Arrabbiata is a typical Roman pasta sauce where tomato and chili pepper are the key ingredients.

To try the battuta, get a very large plate or cutting board. In fact, the battuta is a very special kind of pizza that you make by kneading the dough into a large, thin disk. The dough is lighter and easier to eat.

This is another Italian specialty. A rich and flavorful sauce, the original recipe comes from the city of Bologna. The main ingredients, besides triple tomato concentrate, are ground beef and pancetta, which are cooked for a few hours after being browned with minced celery, carrots and onions.

If you like red meat, you must know about this technique. Brasare means cooking generally entire pieces of red meat over a low flame for a long period of time. The pan is covered and liquid is added a little at a time (water, wine, broth).

Bruschetta is a fixture of Italian cuisine. Originally a peasant dish, this tantalizing plate is often served as an appetizer. It’s made using sliced and toasted peasant bread, rubbed with a garlic clove. Then it is dressed with fresh, tomato pulp, basil and extra virgin olive oil. You can also use tomato pulp that you’ve heated in a pan.

Fumetto di pesce is a very concentrated broth with limited water, made by cooking the parts of the fish that aren’t usually eaten – like the bones and the head - for a long time along with various vegetables (carrots, celery, onions). This is mostly used to cook fish or as a base for sauces and soups.

Gratinatura is a cooking technique that results in a golden crust on top of any dish. For precooked dishes, it can be done in the oven or using a salamander, sprinkling bread crumbs over the dish along with a fat like oil, butter or cheese. For raw foods, the food must be immersed in a liquid so it doesn’t burn since the cooking and gratinatura occurs at the same time.

This is a silly name for a creamy sauce made from cooking meat, fish or vegetables. Intingolo can be a sauce made from various ingredients (oil, salt, spices, wine).

If you want to make excellent risotto dishes, you need to master this technique: add a certain amount of butter, oil or cheese to your recipe right before it's done and with the stove off in order to amalgamate the ingredients, resulting in a creamy dish.

Marinare means to immerse foods and let them sit (or marinate) in a mix made from acids (wine, vinegar, beer), olive oil and spices. Marinating is usually done to make meats, fish and vegetables that will be cooked for a long time tender, to make dry foods softer or to make strong tasting foods less intense.

This is a wonderful sauce from Sicily. It is made with typical Mediterranean ingredients: eggplant, canned tomatoes or tomato puree, salted ricotta, oil, garlic and basil.

The word makes us think of surfers but it is a specific feature in preparing some risotto dishes. All’onda means cooking the risotto so that it is very soft when it is done.

From Southern Italy, one of the most famous recipes, that encompasses all the flavors of the Mediterranean. The main ingredients in this dish are (fried) eggplant, tomato puree, basil and caciocavallo cheese, layered to form a sort of casserole.

This is an easy but delicious dish, a classic in Italian cuisine. It’s made using tomatoes or tomato pulp, which are cooked in a pan with a little extra virgin olive oil along with some garlic, capers and olives. After about 10 minutes, thin filets of meat are added and cooked.

This is a wonderful sauce from Roman cuisine for pasta dishes. It’s made with tomato pulp, capers, anchovies, black olives, chili pepper and parsley.

If you need to brown something, you need a pan and some oil or butter. Rosolare means to cook meat or other foods in a pan with oil or butter, stirring the ingredients until they become browned.

You can practice this technique without pulling out your gym shoes! This is a method to brown foods in a pan while moving them continuously with a flick of the wrist that makes the food “jump” in the pan.

Soffritto is a wonderful mix of onion, celery and carrot that is used as the base for many types of sauces and main courses. The ingredients are all chopped finely. First the onion is cooked over a low flame with water and oil and then the celery and carrots are added.

This doesn’t have anything to do with summer! It’s actually a cooking method that is perfect for dishes typically served in the winter! In umido means cooking a meal in a covered pan over a low flame for a long period of time in order to preserve the nutrients in the food. Recipes in umido often use tomatoes, tomato puree or tomato pulp.