Italian cuisine: 15 secrets that everyone should know

Italian cuisine is much simpler than most people think. If you go to Italy on vacation, you will immediately understand that high-quality ingredients and fresh food are valued in the country. This is the main secret. There are no too complicated cooking techniques, you just need to choose the best ingredients and know how to combine them. As a result, you get wonderful dishes, from pasta to desserts. You just need to learn the basic ways, and you can use them on a daily basis, easily creating any Italian dish in your own kitchen. If you want to learn this, get acquainted with these useful tips.

Do not add olive oil to the water for cooking macaroni

Contrary to popular belief, do not add olive oil to the water for pasta. It does not help to stick pasta, it's better to stir them from time to time. In addition, the butter will prevent the sauce from uniting with pasta, and your pasta will not turn out to be the most appetizing. Do not make this frequent mistake, do not use oil when cooking!

Sprinkle the pasta with something crispy for contrasting textures

Adding something crunchy to pasta in Italy is considered a common way to make the dish more interesting. For example, you can sprinkle ravioli with dried Jerusalem artichoke, this is an original way to supplement a soft and mouth-watering dish. You can use fried cedar nuts or even bread crumbs.

Eat sausage for dessert

Have you ever tried chocolate sausage? This dessert appeared in Italy and Portugal. It resembles a kind of sausage, but is made from melted chocolate, broken biscotti pastry, butter and nuts. Sometimes the recipe involves using cognac or amaretto liquor. The result is a rich chocolate dessert, similar to brownie, but melting in your mouth. When you plan a party for guests, try to serve chocolate sausage for dessert. This dish can conquer all.

Do not pour the sauce over the top, mix ingredients

One of the most serious mistakes of a person far from Italian cuisine is a misconception about how much sauce should be added and how to do it. Spaghetti or horns should never be simply placed on a plate with a serving of sauce on top. You must mix the pasta with the sauce while they are still warm, right on the stove. As a result, the pasta will be evenly covered with sauce. It turns out the perfect combination of flavors and textures.

Do not use too much sauce

Many people like to add too much sauce. In fact, less - more. Try to make tomato sauce yourself, not buy ready. For example, if you made a bolognese sauce, do not water your macaroni with a thick layer. In Italy, you will never see pasta drowned in sauce, all ingredients are matched evenly, and no taste interrupts the rest.

Do not be afraid to cook macaroni al dente

The correct way to make pasta is to aldente, when the pasta is not yet completely soft and can be chewed. Usually this means that cooking costs a minute less than indicated in the instructions on the package. Nevertheless, the Italians are sure that there is no single ideal way. For example, in Rome, pasta is preferred with a light crunch inside, and in the north of Italy they are cooked to a softer state. Find the option that you like best.

Do not add milk or cream to alfredo sauce

The traditional Italian recipe for alfredo does not involve the use of milk or cream. You can make a rich creamy sauce from butter, parmesan cheese, water from cooking macaroni, salt and pepper. It is worthwhile for you to try this recipe - and you will never want to return to the old cooking options. Italians never use fat cream in this dish, because this is not a traditional recipe, besides it's just not necessary. It's so simple and incredibly tasty.

The thinner the dough for ravioli, the better

If you want to make fresh ravioli from scratch, you should know that the main thing is to make the dough as thin as possible. You want the sauce to be expressive, but nobody wants to chew a thick piece of dough. In Italy, there is a rule: through a thin dough you can read a newspaper. The ideal thickness of the dough is from 0.2 to 0.4 millimeters. In this case, your ravioli will be impeccably delicious.

Serve the whole head of Parmesan for special occasions

Many people begin a solemn evening with a toast, but Italians prefer to open a whole head of Parmesan cheese for this. The grated cheese turns pale in comparison with this fragrant dish. If you love parmesan, costs and efforts definitely justify themselves. It is very exquisite and appetizing.

You can make a dessert of ravioli, stuffing them with "nutella" and frying

Deep fried ravioli with "nutella" - this is a real recipe, besides it's just very tasty. This is not the only way to make ravioli dessert, you can also use stuffing from figs or dates, and sprinkle the dish with powdered sugar. There are many options, do not be afraid to experiment.

Make a spicy tomato sauce with spicy salami

One of the Italian secrets of a beautiful tomato sauce is spicy salami. It is so well combined with other ingredients that you can not even guess what exactly is added to the dish. If you like hot pepper, you will definitely love this recipe. It is necessary to cut the sausage into narrow strips and fry it with olive oil before you add the tomato sauce. The flavors will unite, and it will be very tasty.

Combine wine with dishes for sweetness

The secret of the ideal wine selection is the evaluation of sweetness and how it will complement the meal. For example, sweet amaron wine from Verona can be combined with a rabbit stew, and a darker and bitter cabernet fits well with dishes such as meatballs or steak. Remember this when you want to have dinner and choose a wine.

Use the freshest ingredients you can find

Your homemade food turns out good if you use good ingredients. This is especially true of pasta. Use only fresh eggs, buy flour of high quality. You will notice the difference! The same applies to other products: freshness and good taste guarantee the best impression of the dish.

Make a fresh paste on the correct surface

In fact, making a fresh paste is easy and without a special device, you just need to use a suitable surface. You need to make pasta on wood, marble or stainless steel, these are materials that guarantee the best result. Only in this case you can perfectly roll out the dough and will not worry about that it will stick. This simple rule will help you to always get the desired result.

Do not think that you should always follow the recipe to make a paste

The beauty of this recipe is that it is like an empty canvas: you can add anything, and it will turn out great. The kitchen is a place of complete freedom. Anything can happen. It all depends on your imagination. Do not take Italian cuisine too seriously, do not be afraid to experiment. Love not thyme, but basil? Add it! Do not prefer shrimps, but scallops? It will be no less delicious! No tomatoes? Nothing wrong! You just need to use your imagination, and then the food will never get boring.