I come from a moderately sized Italian family -- yes, I am being sarcastic. My family is basically like any Italian, loud and passionate like one you have ever seen on television, excluding "Jersey Shore." Which quick side note, the topic of "Jersey Shore" and how it’s made a mockery of Italians will be saved for another time, so stay tuned! Anyway, we all have our favorite dishes, some more Italian than others, but still, nobody makes better food than our mothers, nonnies, aunts, or whoever cooks for your family every Sunday. By the grace of God, I have narrowed the list of commonly known Italian dishes to five.
This is a dinner that I made for all my friends when they came home from college.
1. Sauce, NOT Gravy
My friends who are not Italian often become very confused when I refer to sauce as being our dinner that night. They, for whatever reason, believe that we are truly only having a kind of sauce and that's it. I can’t count how many times that I have had to explain to people that sauce includes meatballs, pork and sausage, which is all usually cooked in tomato sauce. Sometimes chicken cutlets are served on the side (if we're lucky). All of this served on a big bowl of pasta. And I am not done yet, so hold on. It also follows with some kind of salad (either caprese or green) and a nice hunk of crusty Italian bread.
2. Eggplant Parm
Possibly one of my favorite dishes of all time is eggplant parm. It’s just so phenomenal, especially when the eggplant comes out a little crispy!
3. Chicken Parm
Yeah, can’t forget about the chicken parm. GOD. Covered in melted mozzarella. It is SO good.
4. Linguine in Clam Sauce
You always know when it's Lent, because all of a sudden for dinner, every Friday night we are eating linguine and clams for the entire month. I’m not complaining. I love seafood!
5. Gnocchi
Now, this occasionally falls under the sauce category, but I felt it needed its own category because it's GNOCCHI. I have never tasted a gnocchi better than both my grandma's and my mother's. Hands down best things in the world and they should ONLY be made with ricotta and flour. End. Of. Story.
So these are only five of the dishes that I believe prove why Italian food is the best in the world. Pretty proud of myself that I got it down to only five. This is me personally, but I don’t like to associate myself with those who can’t voluntarily eat pasta every day for the rest of their lives and not be perfectly content. Those are the kind of negative people you don't need in your life. To those of you who are “honorary Italians” -- yes, that is definitely a thing -- I applaud to you the fact that you’ve survived entering a Sunday dinner and coming out alive. It’s tough. But I hope you enjoyed reading this and keep a look out for a follow up regarding desserts.
