You can’t beat polenta with buttery mushrooms: it’s a hug in a bowl

Cauliflower may just be an inhibited cabbage, but it really comes to life in these crunchy, breadcrumbed cheeseballs

Both savoury and sweet, it’s reminiscent of rice pudding, bread sauce, Sunday roast stuffing and cheesy risotto

A strong, penetrating flavour and lemon zest brightness ensures this visual masquerade from Sicily is a satisfyingly tasty treat

The ultimate autumnal soup, made with ancient grains and new season squash

A hearty, carby comfort bowl with optional crumbled sausage

Firm, sweet grapes make this one of my favourite dishes

Cream or no cream? Onions or no? What sort of cured pork, or cheese? And who knew that spaghetti ‘carbonara’ probably didn’t exist before 1950?

A combination of Tuscan recipes for baking tomatoes from a book published in 1899, resulting in delightfully soft tomatoes with an irresistible nutty crumble crust

A mishmash of two cookbook recipes results in a many-layered filo pastry case stuffed with courgette, rice, cheese, herbs and egg, then baked

Use the best chicken you can afford for these baked thighs with cherry tomatoes and a green bean, lettuce and parmesan salad

Pasta alla checca is where hot pasta meets cool raw tomato, fresh herbs and mozzarella to brilliant effect

A moist walnut cake made even-moreish with added hazelnuts for extra tenderness and an inspired figgy compote.

Making these pasta ears is almost child’s play, while the sauce is a riot of cooked and raw tomatoes

Normally you’d bake or deep-fry parmigiana di zucchini, but here’s a novel way to make it in a frying pan

These pasty-like cheesy parcels are ideal picnic fare

A cheesy pasta dish inspired by a restaurant on the Amalfi coast

Turkish-style, pan-cooked flatbread, abundant with leopard spots and inspired by Italian cook Laura Lazzaroni, is suitable for every mood …

Shortbread biscotti with a big jammy ‘eye’ are found all across bars in Italy, and are a bit like giant jammy dodgers