By Maren, Lead Online Marketing at Princess Goes Hollywood
I have been traveling to Italy regularly for years. For work, because hardly any other country offers more beautiful backdrops for our photo shoots. Personally, because this country captivates me anew every time – with that feeling of being steeped in history, strolling through narrow alleys that have been the same for centuries, and at the same time having the best plate of pasta of the year in front of you. La Dolce Vita is not a marketing term. It's an attitude. And nowhere is it better understood than in Italy.
By now, I know almost all parts of the country: Puglia and the Amalfi Coast, Sicily and Tuscany, Veneto and Calabria. What I've learned is that the strongest memories are created at the sights, as well as while eating and strolling through old towns that you would ideally never want to leave.
Good food in Italy is not a question of budget or a restaurant guide. It's a question of simplicity. Few ingredients, best quality, no compromises. That's the secret – and it's not a secret at all.
Here are seven dishes you should know, have eaten, and ideally, have cooked yourself.
Burrata with Tomatoes – the simplest perfection
Anyone who eats truly good burrata for the first time – creamy, fresh, with that subtle milky taste that combines with ripe tomatoes and good olive oil – understands why Italians cook so little and eat so well. This isn't a recipe. It's a philosophy.
We had the best in Puglia. Freshly made, at room temperature, on a bed of arugula and tomatoes, with a hint of pesto beside it. Not a single superfluous thought in the world.
Recipe: Burrata with Tomatoes and Olive Oil
Ingredients for 2 people: 1–2 fresh burrata, 3–4 ripe tomatoes (Cuore di bue or San Marzano), best extra virgin olive oil, Fleur de Sel, black pepper, fresh basil, optional: aged balsamic vinegar.
Preparation: Slice tomatoes, arrange on a plate. Take burrata out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before serving. Place in the center, lightly cut open so the cream oozes out. Drizzle generously with olive oil. Fleur de Sel, pepper, basil. Done.
The quality of the olive oil makes all the difference here. A good, cold-pressed olive oil from Puglia or Sicily is not a luxury – it's a necessity.
Granita al Pistacchio – Sicily's coldest delight
When the Sicilian sun is really scorching and gelato no longer helps, there's granita. Semi-frozen, intensely aromatic, with a texture somewhere between ice and snow. In Sicily, it's eaten for breakfast – with a brioche dipped into the granita. It sounds strange. It's the best.
Our recommendation: pistachio instead of lemon. We had the best by the Duomo of Cefalù, right in the piazza, while the Norman tower glowed in the morning light and the city slowly woke up. A memorable scene.
Recipe: Granita al Pistacchio con Panna
Ingredients for 4 people: 150g unsalted, shelled pistachios, 500ml water, 120g sugar, 200ml whipping cream, 1 tbsp powdered sugar.
Preparation: Finely grind pistachios. Bring water and sugar to a boil until dissolved, remove from heat. Stir in ground pistachios, strain through a fine sieve, let cool. Pour into a shallow metal dish. Freeze for 4–5 hours, scraping with a fork every 30 minutes to form the characteristic ice crystals. Whip cream with powdered sugar until stiff. Fill glasses with granita, top with panna, serve immediately with fresh brioche.
Arancini – Sicily's best invention
Arancini are Sicily's answer to the question: What do you do with leftover risotto? You shape it into small balls, fill it, bread it, and deep-fry it until golden. The result is so good that you'll soon have no leftover risotto, because you'll cook the risotto specifically for the arancini.
In Sicily, you'll find them in every display case: lined up like small golden trophies, round in Palermo, pointed in Catania. Our favorite version: spinach and ricotta instead of ragù – and the one we cook most often.
Recipe: Arancini con Spinaci e Ricotta
Ingredients for 8–10 pieces: For the rice: 300g risotto rice (Arborio), 1 liter vegetable broth, 50g Parmesan, 2 egg yolks, a pinch of saffron, salt. For the filling: 300g fresh spinach, 200g ricotta, 50g Parmesan, salt, pepper, nutmeg. For breading: 2 eggs, breadcrumbs, flour, oil for deep-frying.
Preparation: Cook rice in saffron broth until done and dry, mix with Parmesan and egg yolks, let cool. Briefly sauté spinach in olive oil, squeeze out excess water and chop coarsely. Mix with ricotta, Parmesan, salt, pepper, and nutmeg, let cool. Form rice into balls, make an indentation, fill with spinach-ricotta mixture, close. Dredge in flour, egg, and breadcrumbs. Deep-fry at 175 degrees until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Serve warm – or lukewarm if you can't wait.
Orecchiette with Tomato, Basil, and Stracciatella – in an Osteria in Otranto
Orecchiette is the pasta of Puglia. These small, hand-shaped 'little ears' made from durum wheat semolina are found on tables throughout the region. The best version we ever ate was in a small osteria in the old town of Otranto. Rustic crockery, no frills, no tourist menu, and a plate of orecchiette with fresh tomatoes, wild basil, and stracciatella on top.
Stracciatella is the filling of burrata: that stringy, creamy mixture of mozzarella and cream. When added to hot pasta, it melts into the sauce and combines into something so simple and so perfect that you briefly forget where you are.
Recipe: Orecchiette con Pomodoro, Basilico e Stracciatella
Ingredients for 2 people: 200g orecchiette (preferably fresh or handmade), 400g ripe cherry tomatoes, 2 cloves garlic, 4 tbsp olive oil, 150g stracciatella, fresh basil, salt, black pepper, optional: peperoncino.
Preparation: Sauté garlic in olive oil over medium heat, do not brown. Add tomatoes and simmer for 10–12 minutes until soft and forming a light sauce. Season with salt, pepper, and optional peperoncino. Cook pasta al dente, drain, add directly to the sauce and toss well. Arrange on plates, spoon stracciatella over it, tear basil over it. Serve immediately.
Spaghetti alle Vongole – the sea on a plate
There's one dish you have to eat on the right coast before you try to cook it yourself. Not because the recipe is difficult, but because you first need to understand how it's supposed to taste. Spaghetti alle Vongole is sea, garlic, white wine, and fresh clams. That's all there is to it.
My tip: We ate the best version at Boca Marina Ristorante Pizzeria in Marina di Modica, a small fishing village in southern Sicily. Unassuming from the outside, right on the beach, small menu and slightly antiquated charm. Homemade spaghetti, vongole that were still in the sea that morning... delizioso.
Recipe: Spaghetti alle Vongole
Ingredients for 2 people: 200g spaghetti, 600g fresh vongole (clams), 2 cloves garlic, 1 small dried chili pepper, 150ml dry white wine, 3 tbsp olive oil, fresh parsley, salt.
Preparation: Soak vongole in cold salted water for at least 2 hours to remove sand, then rinse. Cook pasta al dente in plenty of salted water. Briefly sauté garlic in olive oil, add chili. Add vongole, pour in white wine, cover and steam for 3–4 minutes until all clams are open. Remove any unopened clams. Transfer pasta directly to the pan, toss everything. Add pasta water as needed. Sprinkle with parsley, serve immediately. No Parmesan with seafood. In Italy, that's an affront.
Tartufo di Pizzo – Calabria's best dessert, eaten in Tropea
Anyone traveling through Calabria cannot bypass Pizzo. And anyone passing through Pizzo cannot bypass Tartufo. This hand-shaped ice cream ball, with a creamy pistachio paste core and rolled in chopped pistachios, is the region's most famous dessert – invented in Pizzo Calabro, now on menus almost everywhere in Calabria.
We had ours in Tropea: served with pistachio ice cream, pistachio cream, and dark chocolate crumble. A dessert that looks like art and tastes like the perfect end to a long summer day.
Making Tartufo al Pistacchio yourself is elaborate, but possible: form pistachio ice cream with a pistachio paste core into a ball, freeze, roll in chopped pistachios. If you want to save effort, use good quality store-bought pistachio ice cream and recreate the Tartufo with it. And if you truly want the original, you now know where your next trip is going.
Recipe: Tartufo al Pistacchio con Crumble al Cioccolato
Ingredients for 4 pieces: 500g high-quality pistachio ice cream (homemade or store-bought), 4 tbsp pistachio paste (100% pistachios, no additives), 100g chopped pistachios. For the crumble: 80g dark cocoa powder, 60g flour, 60g cold butter, 50g sugar, 1 pinch of salt.
Crumble Preparation: Mix all ingredients into coarse crumbles, bake on a baking sheet at 175 degrees for 12–15 minutes. Let cool.
Tartufo Preparation: Let pistachio ice cream soften briefly until moldable. Press an indentation into it, add a spoonful of pistachio paste, carefully form into a ball and seal. Roll in chopped pistachios. Freeze for at least 2 hours.
Serving: Place Tartufo on a plate, scatter crumble over and around it. Drizzle with pistachio sauce if desired. Serve immediately.
Pasta al Limone – Amalfi on a plate
There's no dish that better captures the spirit of the Amalfi Coast than Pasta al Limone. Few ingredients, ready in twenty minutes, yet so good you'll wipe the plate clean twice. The secret lies in the quality of the lemon – and in making the sauce truly from the zest and juice, not from a bottle.
Recipe: Pasta al Limone
Ingredients for 2 people: 200g spaghetti or linguine, 1 untreated lemon (zest and juice), 80ml whipping cream, 40g freshly grated Parmesan, 2 tbsp butter, salt, black pepper, fresh basil leaves.
Preparation: Cook pasta al dente in well-salted water. Melt butter in a pan, add lemon zest, sauté briefly. Add cream, reduce slightly. Transfer pasta directly from the water to the pan, add a little cooking water. Stir in lemon juice and Parmesan until a creamy sauce forms. Serve with basil and black pepper. Eat immediately – pasta waits for no one.
The trick: The cooking water is the gold of pasta cooking. It binds the sauce and gives it body. Always save a cup before draining the water.
The secret of Italian cuisine
It's no secret. It's respect – for the ingredients, for simplicity, for time. A good dish doesn't need twenty ingredients. It needs three very good ones.
And of course: the food tastes better sitting in a lively, historic piazza or by the sea. And what the perfect outfit for that is, our Dolce Vita collection and Bella Italia collection show. You can find more inspiration for your Italian summer in our Aperitivo Drinks Guide, the Must-See Italy Guide, and the Girlfriends Guide Rome.
