Italian dishes you might not know

Italian cuisine in Delhi has quickly made its way from the oven to our hearts. Eateries, big and small have mastered the subtle cheesy and comforting taste. However, when it comes to Italian, we all know pasta and pizza, but the rich cuisine offers many more flavours. Authentic Italian cuisine has many dishes that deserve your attention.

Here are some of the lesser-known, but utterly incredible dishes from Italy.

Ossobuco alla Milanese

Osso Buco is an Italian classic and it originates in Milan, it is a dish made with veal shanks slow-braised in white wine and garlic moreover, served with vegetables. (Veal shank is usually cross-cut so it reveals a cross-section of the shin bone). The meat is so soft it can easily be eaten with just a fork, modern variations may use tomato sauce, but true Osso Buco does not use one. It is not unfamiliar to scoop out the delicious soul from inside the bones during preparation.

Cannoli

Cannolo is one of those specialities that must find their way to us from a Sicily corner. Out of all Sicilian pastries, the cannoli is unquestionably the best, a fried pastry tube filled with ricotta cream and rolled in pistachio or chocolate chips. The ricotta is crumbly and dry, the pastry soggy and too sweet.

Tortellini e Brodo

Tortellini e Brodo is a popular Italian Christmas dish. It consists of pasta parcels filled with pork, in a clear chicken broth. Tortellini are fried in broth and topped with grated cheese. The dish takes time and is a perfect recipe to cook and relish with family during festivals.

Canederli

It's a type of dumpling made with bread, flavoured with speck, spinach, or cheese that mix all three well. It's similar to Austrian Knodel which is a cheese dumpling, owing to the region's strong cultural connections with Germany and Austria. It can be served in soup with meat, fish, and vegetables or with butter and grated Parmesan cheese. The dish can be a delicious way to consume leftover bread.

Focaccia di Recco

Focaccia is a flatbread, seasoned with salt, olive oil, cheese, pesto, salami, and olives. It can also be topped with onion, olives, tomatoes, pesto, olive oil, or a touch of cheese, cheese-stuffed into a thin pastry, baked fresh, the cheese oozes from the crisp pastry. In a bakery, you'll find slabs of freshly baked focaccia.

Bistecca alla Fiorentina

For those who love red meat, this city's namesake dish is a tasty slab of T-bone steak, grilled over charcoal, cut thick, and served bloody. One Fiorentina weighs about three pounds, perfect for sharing with friends.

Trippa

The inner lining of animal stomach meat, the Tripe is either simmered for hours in tomatoes with vegetables in Rome or slow-cooked in seasoned broth in Florence as a dish. It's also eaten as a sandwich in other parts of Italy. In other corners of Italy, it is also eaten in soups or fried.

Pasta Alla Carbonara

This dish is made with stuffed breadsticks, chunks of pancetta, raw eggs, and finely grated cheese, then topped with crushed black pepper. In contrast to typical Italian food chains, there are no peas and the sauce is not white. The dish is made with spaghetti pasta, pancetta, raw eggs, and grated cheese tossed together while the pasta is still piping hot, and the raw egg creates a creamy texture.