Easy Italian Recipes

A Cuisine of Many Cultures

Much of the Sicilian landscape is a mix of wheat fields, fragrant citrus and almond groves, forests, and vineyards. The cooking tends to revolve around seafood (including swordfish, tuna, sardines, and lobster), vegetables (especially eggplants/aubergines and tomatoes), and pasta, which is often prepared simply and garnished with pecorino or ricotta salata cheese. Sicily has lived under the rute of vastly different occupying powersGreeks, Romans, Arabs, and Normans—all of whom have left their stamp on the island's colorful, multicultural cuisine. The Arab influence is particularly evident in dishes like couscous, in the use of spices and dried fruits such as raisins, and in the island's famed sweets, pastries, and desserts. It was the Arabs who brought sugar and almonds to Sicily, along with the art of making candied fruit, ices, and sorbets. Today, the frozen desserts and unique almond-paste confections of the region are world famous. Marsala, Sicily's renowned fortified wine made in the style of sherry, was created in the western port city of Marsala and is enjoyed throughout Italy as a cooking and dessert wine.

Culinary Signature:

Almond Paste Known in Sicily as pasta reale (royal dough) because it began as a delicacy served at noble tables, Sicily's version of marzipan is the base of many of the region's desserts, most notably the frutti di Martorana. These charming confections, sculpted to look like various fruits and vegetables, were first created in the convent of Martorana in Palermo. Shaped from a smooth paste of blanched almonds and sugar, perfumed with cinnamon, lemon, and vanilla, they are hand painted and often strikingly realistic in appearance.

Regional Specialties

Caponata sweet-and-sour eggplant (aubergine) stewed with capers and vinegar Pasta con le sarde pasta (often bucatini) with sardines, fennel, raisins, and pine nuts

Pasta alla Norma pasta dressed with tornato, eggplant, basil, and ricotta salata, named for the heroine of the opera by Catania-born Vincenzo Bellini

Arancini bite-sized rice croquettes, often filled with meat ragù, tornato sauce, and/or cheese

Panella a deep-fried pancake made of chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour

Cannoli fried pastry shells with a sweetened ricotta filling, often dotted with candied fruit, pistachios, and chocolate

Cassata sponge cake filled with a sweet ricotta mixture similar to the filling used in cannoli, often covered with a layer of marzipan; cassata gelata, a frozen version, is made with ice cream

Granita crushed-ice dessert flavored with coffee, almond, lemon, or seasonal fruit

Photo: Piquant eggplant, is a delicious served atop rustic Italian. Sicily is known for its fragrant citrus, featured in many local