12 Life Hacks That Will Help You Cook Like Italians

The passion to cook and eat must be learned from the Italians! Excellent dishes, bright ingredients, recipes that are passed down from generation to generation.

The passion to cook and eat must be learned from the Italians! Excellent dishes, bright ingredients, recipes that are passed down from generation to generation. We share secrets that will help you cook like Italians. 

1. Pasta according to Italian rules

 

Italians don't finish cooking pasta. They like it in a state of al dente (from Italian “by the tooth”), that is, almost ready, but not yet lost elasticity. To do this, cook it for 2-3 minutes less than indicated in the instructions. Thanks to this trick, the Italians never get sticky boiled mass instead of pasta. And save the water in which the pasta was boiled. It's great for diluting pasta sauce.

2. Seasonality of products

Many recipes can be adjusted to suit seasonal fruits and vegetables. Experiment. So you will discover new flavor combinations, using long-familiar recipes.

3. Garlic

It is better not to press the garlic cloves, but to rub. After all, it is in the grated state that it interacts better with vegetable oils.

4. Express cooking meatballs

 

In Italy, meatballs are cooked immediately in the sauce. First, they are fried a little, and then tomato sauce is added and the dish is stewed over low heat. So the meatballs are much more tender.

5. Pizza dough

The original Italian recipe uses sifted wholemeal flour, salt, olive oil and water, and adds oregano for flavor.

6. Pizza filling

 

The main thing in the filling is cheese. Italians prefer mozzarella, but do not refuse experiments, using several types of cheese in one pizza. Fresh juicy tomatoes and a sprig of basil are also important. The rest is up to you.

7. Salt roasted meat at the end of cooking

This simple tip will keep meat dishes juicy. 

8. Canned tomatoes

Incorporate canned tomatoes into your diet. Especially they will help you out in the winter. The Italians at this time use them both in stews and pizza. By the way, it's also cheaper!

9. Wine is added to sauces at the beginning

 

Otherwise, the alcohol vapors will be too strong. It is better to let the wine for the sauce stand open for a while, and only then start cooking.

10. Don't throw away the water after cooking pasta.

It contains starch, it is because of it that the color of the water becomes cloudy white. Such a liquid is ideal for sauces, and can replace regular water in recipes.

11. Bow

Italians respect and use this vegetable in their recipes. And to get rid of the characteristic smell and bitterness, they advise placing the bulb under a stream of warm water for 1 minute.

12. Gremolata

 

Fish and meat are poured not with creamy sauces, but with a light green dressing. The classic set of gremolata ingredients are lemon, parsley and garlic.

But you can play around with the options. For example, replace lemon with lime, parsley with mint, sage, cilantro; add onions or ground nuts.