Buon Giorno! An Easy Italian Feast

Those who've been lucky enough to take a trip to Italy will tell you--the food is AMAZING!  True Italian food focuses on high-quality ingredients, fresh produce (like tomatoes, basil, eggplant, and artichokes) and exceptional artisanal products like cheeses (mozzarella, mozzarella di bufala, ricotta, Parmigiano Reggiano, Pecornio, Caciocavallo, Caprino, Taleggio, etc...), cured meats (Prosciutto, Prosciutto Cotto, Mortadella, Coppa, Bresaola, Capocollo, Speck, etc...) and freshly baked breads.  

Another defining characteristic of Italian cuisine is its intense emphasis on tradition and regionality: the boot is composed of twenty distinct regions, each with vastly different traditional recipes and eating habits.  This is due not only to a difference in climate (while Northern Italy borders Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, Southern Italy is near the northern coast of Africa) but also to politics: until 1871, Italy was not a unified political state, but a collection of autonomous monarchies.  For that reason, culinary traditions (as well as languages, or local dialects) developed indepently of each other.  Today, Italian home cooks continue to prepare the recipes that their ancestors cooked hundreds of years ago in their town or village.

That's the dolce vita: ancient recipes, simple meals, prepared well.  For your next dinner party, create an Italian feast full of flavor. Below are some recipes I turn to for my Italian nights-in along with some tips on how you can create the feel of a bistro in your own home.  I also feature recipes from master chefs Mario Batali, Emeril Lagasse, and Curtis Stone.  Buon appetito!