We are all spending more time at home these days, leading to the discovery of new talents, hobbies, and impressive Netflix binge-watching feats. If you’ve taken up cooking or are looking for some inspiration to get started, a few top Italian chefs have offered Travel & Leisure the recipes to their favorite meals so you can recreate them at home.

Tuscan Gnocchi

Alessandro Manfredini, Chef at Renaissance Tuscany Il Ciocco Resort & Spa in Lucca  

Ingredients:

 2 lbs. potatoes

1 egg

10 oz. flour

Salt, to taste

Instructions:

In a large pot, boil potatoes (skin on) with just enough water to cover them. Boil for about 20 minutes, or until fork tender.

Once cooked and cool enough to handle, peel the potatoes and mash them. Mix in the egg and salt, followed by flour. Mix until you reach a dough-like consistency.

Shape small portions of the dough into long “snakes.” On a floured surface, cut the dough into cubed pieces. Use a fork to gently imprint lines. (This helps the gnocchi hold more sauce.)

Gently shake away any excess flour and place gnocchi in a large pot of salted, boiling water. Cook gnocchi until they float to the top, about two to four minutes. Gently remove the gnocchi with a slotted spoon; drain very well.

Toss them a saucepan with your favorite Italian sauce and cook together for about two minutes.

Linguine alla Puttanesca

Matteo Temperini, Executive Chef at Rosewood Castiglion del Bosco in Tuscany

Ingredients:

Serves: 4 people

400 gr. linguine pasta

1 garlic wedge

2 anchovy filets

20 gr. capers

50 gr. parsley, minced

400 gr. cherry tomatoes

40 gr. extra virgin olive oil

Chili pepper, to taste

Salt, to taste

20 gr. olives (taggiasche olives recommended, but not necessary)

Instructions:

Brown the garlic, anchovies, capers, and chili pepper with olive oil in a pan.

Add sliced cherry tomatoes and cook for two to three minutes. In the meantime, cook the pasta al dente in salted water. Drain well and pan fry it in the creamy sauce.

Add the parsley and olives. Serve.

Spaghetti Carbonara

Martin Vitaloni, Executive Chef at Grand Hotel Victoria in Menaggio

Ingredients:

100 gr. spaghetti di Gragnano

25 gr. butter

20 gr. pecorino cheese

5 gr. black pepper

30 gr. guanciale

For the Carbonara Sauce

300 gr. egg yolk

80 gr. milk cream

20 gr. guanciale (bacon) fat

Instructions:

Chop the guanciale and brown it in a pan until it is crisp. Set it aside and keep the fat.

For the carbonara sauce, simply add the egg yolks to the cream, and add the bacon fat. Adjust the salt and put the mixture in the siphon, loading it with the whipped cream cartridge. Keep the siphon warm, ideally at 65 degrees Celsius.

Cook the pasta in boiling, salted water until al dente. Sauté it in a pan with butter and pecorino cheese. Add the pepper and take care not to form lumps.

Plate the pasta and finish it with the siphon of carbonara sauce and the bacon crumble.

Chicken With Bell Peppers

Michele Ferrara, Chef at J.K. Place Roma in Rome

Ingredients:

Serves: 4 people

2 organic chickens (250 gr. or 8.8 oz. each)

For the Side

1 red pepper

8 fresh spring onions

For the Basil Oil Preparation

200 gr. (or 7 oz.) fresh basil

Extra virgin olive oil (500 ml.)

For the Butter and Rosemary Sauce

2 kg. (or 7.5 oz.) chicken bones

3 carrots

3 golden onions

2 garlic cloves

1 bunch rosemary

3 stalks celery

10 gr. (or 0.35 oz.) butter

25 cl. Balsamic vinegar

10 ml. soy sauce

For the Olive Powder

50 gr. (1.7 oz.) olives

Instructions:

Butter and Rosemary Sauce Preparation

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Place the chicken bones in a pan and leave in the oven for 40 minutes.

Wash and peel carrots, onion, and celery. Place them in a saucepan with plenty of oil and cook over medium heat.

Take the roasted chicken bones, drain them from fat excess and put them in the saucepan with the browned vegetables.

Stir and fill the saucepan with water until everything is covered. Add the remaining ingredients and boil gently until its volume is halved.

Filter the remaining liquid with the help of a fine strainer. Arrange it in another saucepan and reduce over low heat until it thickens. Season with salt.

Side Dish Preparation:

Wash and dry the vegetables. Place the whole pepper in the oven for 20 minutes at 180 degrees. Clean the spring onions by removing the green leaves and the roots at the boom.

Blanch them for three minutes, drain, and dry. Arrange them in a hot pan and sauté all sides until golden brown.

Peel the previously roasted pepper and remove the seeds, being careful to obtain four regular layers. Keep warm until plating the dish.

Basil Oil Preparation:

Blanch the basil in hot water for 10 seconds. Drain and cool in cold water.

Squeeze it well and place in a blender with ½ liter of oil for three minutes maximum.

Filter the oil with a fine strainer.

Olive Powder Preparation:

Arrange the olives in a saucer and let them dry in the microwave for four minutes until they are dehydrated. Blend the dried olives to obtain a powder.

Chicken:

Add a drizzle of oil on a non-stick pan, turn on the heat, and arrange the chicken (previously salted and peppered) until the skin is golden. After turning them, lower the heat and let them sauté until they are cooked.

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