Lately, I’ve been attempting to widen my base of Italian comfort food. I don’t want my kids to label me, or dinner, as boring (they are the ultimate critics). As reliable as bolognese, alfredo, lasagna, and Sunday gravy can be, there comes a time when you want to shake things up a bit and opt for some more flair with Italian food.
I’ve put together a collection of 12 Tomatoes recipes offering the tastiest Italian meals. Some are lesser-known traditional favorites, while others are sides, soups, or salads that look to innovate or incorporate more unusual Italian elements. One thing’s for sure, if you work through this list from the top, your meal times will be fantastic!
1. Stuffed Italian Sausage
Take some primo Italian sausage, split it down the middle and fill it with mozzarella, then throw some marinara sauce into the tray with it. Put it in the oven to bake, then come back to an amazing Stuffed Italian Sausage dinner. All you need is a glass of rustic red wine and some crusty bread to cap off the meal.
2. Italian Chicken Skillet Dinner
Our Italian Chicken Skillet Dinner makes a delicious one-pan chicken dish that’s healthy, quick to make, and light on for washing up afterward. A rich tomato sauce, seasoned with favorite traditional herbs and seasonal veggies, helps to flavor the chicken and keep the meat tender and juicy. This is a perfect mid-week dish you can assemble, cook, and serve easily in under an hour, plus you can mix and match veggies as the mood takes you.
3. Meatball Wrapped Spaghetti
I’m not going to lie, Meatball Wrapped Spaghetti is rather unorthodox but well worth the tongue lashing you’d get from Nonna. The spaghetti and meatballs simmer away together in a sauce, creating a set-and-forget comfort dish likely to move onto your list of easy-bake classics.
4. Italian Roasted Tomatoes
The stereotypical image of Italian comfort foods is yummy piles of pasta laden with sauce and cheese. But for me, sides such as this simple Italian Roasted Tomatoes recipe bring out the best in Italian style home cooking. Here, your favorite flavors – garlic, oregano, basil, and onion – bleed into beautifully ripe Roma tomatoes. The key is to cook them low and slow to maximize the melding of flavor amidst the juicy tomato.
5. Million Dollar Baked Ziti
If you want a truly luxurious meal, one like this Million Dollar Baked Ziti, you’ve got to add cream and cottage cheese. I’m okay with adding plenty to this all-time favorite pasta, baked ziti. The cheeses add a creamy, luxurious layer to the traditionally bright and cheerful pasta bake, laden with sausage tomatoes, and Italian herbs. Don’t expect any leftovers!
6. Italian Meatball Soup
I think a Sunday meal of spaghetti and ‘gravy’ is one of life’s great pleasures, but I wanted to make this list a little more exciting than just a collection of the usual suspects. Our Italian Meatball Soup takes an Italian comfort food favorite and turns it into a flavorful tomato soup. A soup like this is perfect for cooler weather when you want to warm up your bones.
7. Chicken Alfredo Lasagna
I know I said at the top that I wouldn’t list alfredo or lasagna in this collection, but I could not resist adding our Chicken Alfredo Lasagna, a recipe that combines the two classic Italian favorites.
Indulgent and oh-so-creamy, utilizing chicken and spinach instead of ground beef creates a different, more subtle flavor profile, yet retains the familiar, comforting sheets of pasta and golden cheese top. Chicken alfredo lasagna is a great way to freshen up your mealtime favorites, and the whole family will love it!
8. Cacio e Pepe Baby Potatoes
I love potatoes in just about any kind of way. Potatoes are essential comfort food, after all. Cacio e Pepe Baby Potatoes are an Italian staple that often gets overlooked in lists such as this one. Cacio e Pepe means “cheese and pepper”, which is all you need to transform your baby potatoes into the most in-demand side dish on your dinner table. It’s gotten to the point in my household that cacio e pepe potatoes are a required accompaniment for roast and grilled meat dishes when I’m entertaining at home.
9. Italian Chicken Pie
Here in Australia we usually add a layer of pastry when making pies, but an Italian Chicken Pie recipe opts for a lovely crunchy biscuit crust. I love this recipe for the ease with which it comes together, and because there’s no pasta either it tastes light and cheesy. All you need is a Mediterranean side salad and you are good to go.
10. One Skillet Caprese Chicken Orzo
One-Skillet Caprese Chicken Orzo takes around 40 minutes, yet looks like a hybrid paella that could have taken hours to come together, melding flavors of garlic, herbs, and tomatoes, with juicy pan-fried chicken. I love using orzo pasta in one-pan meals and salads. The rice-like grains are much lighter than spaghetti and other pasta but soak up sauce and flavor while still allowing the meat (or other protein) to shine.
Conclusion
What I like most about these recipes is that they showcase the hallmarks of great quality Italian cooking, without being difficult or too fancy. These are great comfort meals filled with recognizable flavors, they may just be further down the play sheet than what you are used to.