Italian Dishes Every Man Should Be Able To Make

Bad risotto can seem like baby food for adults, all mushy and one-note, but when done right, it's the greatest comfort food you'll ever have. This version calls for red wine, beef broth, pancetta, and mushrooms, giving it the sturdiness of a linebacker. If this is baby food, just call us Peter Pan, because we don't want to grow up. Get the recipe at Food52.

For something as seemingly simple as pizza dough, tomato sauce, mozzarella, and basil, margherita pizza is a topic surrounded by hot debate and rich history. What's authentic? This recipe, the author claims. It's pretty darn close to the original version in Naples, and the secret is in cranking up the heat as high as it will go, and being patient with your dough. Get the recipe at Food52.

Lasagna isn't just something you stack together blindly like a s'more. First, you make a rich bolognese and a creamy bechamel, and then comes the careful layering of pasta sheets, meat sauce, and cream sauce, a topping of mozzarella, and a 45 minute bake. You want to woo a girl? This is your ticket. Get the recipe at Food52.

Pesto is one of the oldest sauces in the world, which means that people have been making it well and messing it up for thousands of years. This is just one version that we've come to really like. Still, it's a starting point. If it doesn't come out to your liking, just tweak it, adding more basil, olive oil, salt, garlic, pine nuts, or cheese, to taste. You won't be the first to play with the proportions. Get the recipe at Food52.

The secret to perfect carbonara is using the hot pasta and a bit of pasta water to cook the other ingredients (except that pancetta you pre-cooked and chopped, of course). You don't want to add the raw eggs to the pan (they're likely to scramble), but instead add the hot pasta to a bowl with the cracked eggs, so you can stir them gently into a thick, creamy sauce. Then all that's left to do is add lots of black pepper and Pecorino. Get the recipe at Food52.

This is about as easy as tomato sauce gets: just simmer crushed tomatoes and a halved onion with butter. No mincing onions required, which means your eyes won't burn while cooking dinner. #Winning. Get the recipe at Food52.

Forget those heavy potato bombs of Italian restaurants past -- these gnocchi come together with just ricotta, flour, Parmesan, and an egg. Make the dough, roll it into logs, cut them up into nuggets, and boil for 5 minutes. You can toss them with butter and fresh herbs or with the tomato sauce in the next slide. Get the recipe at Food52.

Every culture seems to have a fresh herb sauce. In Argentina, it's chimichurri, in Italy, it's salsa verde. Both are great served with grilled steak (like you even needed an excuse to grill steaks). Get the recipe at Food52.

Polenta is dead simple, and made with just corn meal and salt. So what's all the fuss about it being difficult to make? It's a thick mass that you stir around a pot on direct heat, so, like pudding, it can overcook on the bottom if you're not careful. This version has you make it in a bowl over simmering water, so it comes out perfectly every time. Get the recipe at Food52.

There's something pretty badass about an old-school ragu that calls for actual bones. Cook it all day long while you've got the guys over. You honestly can't cook it too much -- it just gets better the longer it simmers. Get the recipe at Food52.