Great Italian Chefs

Interested in cooking incredible food & learning from Italy's Greatest chefs? Then Great Italian Chefs will become your go-to site.

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Tom Riby attends the first annual gathering of chefs in Italy to discuss ethics, cooking and the future of food.

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Try out your pastry skills with this stunning chocolate and coffee dessert.

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This stunning spaghetti with wedge clams recipe from Daniele Usai has a fiery secret ingredient: the Trinidad moruga scorpion chilli, known to be one of the hottest in the world.

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This vibrant tuna tartare recipe from chef Daniele Usai is served atop a creamy homemade guacamole – just make sure the avocados are extra ripe for a silky smooth finish.

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This stunning golden dessert is reminiscent of a sunset. Filled with creamy ricotta and candied fruits, the mandarin-glazed dome sits atop a bed of orange-scented custard.

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A collection of inspiring ricotta recipes from a some of Italy's greatest chefs.

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Duck breast with radicchio, orange and radishes

The combination of duck and orange is an irrefutable classic. Lorenzo Cogo gives the dish his own twist using a purée of radicchio – the famed Italian leafy vegetable. The bitter notes of the radicchio are further enhanced with a generous scattering of mustard, nasturtium and sorrel leaves, perfectly balancing the zesty sweetness of orange and the rich duck.

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Smoked mackerel with tomato water and basil

This starter from Lorenzo Cogo combines bright flavours of tomato and basil and seductively smoked mackerel. Freshness of the mackerel is imperative so make sure you purchase from a reputable fishmonger.

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Orecchiette with watercress purée, bergamot and mussels

This flavoursome pasta dish from Lorenzo Cogo is not only visually appealing with its bright green hue, but is a healthy option to serve as it is dairy-free and low on saturated fats. Buy the mussels on the day you are making the dish for maximum freshness.

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Ravioli with garden trimmings, chamomile, tequila and almond milk

Ravioli is an incredibly versatile pasta that can be made with a huge variety of fillings. Michelin-starred chef Lorenzo Cogouses garden trimmings to fill ravioli for this delicious vegetarian starter, which changes depending on the ingredients available to him. To make this dish even more special, the chef recommends a few slices of black truffle to add a luxurious, earthy richness.

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Terra (Auener Hof)

Terra is the Michelin-starred restaurant by acclaimed Italian chef Heinrich Schneider. Housed in the mountainside hotel Auener Hof, it provides guests with an immersive dining experience like no other, showcasing the wild flavours of South Tyrol.

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Heinrich Schneider

By taking inspiration and ingredients from the countryside of South Tyrol, Heinrich Schneider has become a true champion of the region's incredibly unique cuisine. His Michelin-starred restaurant Terra features around fifty different mountain herbs on its menu.

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Beetroot sorbet, lavender mousse and black walnut

This glorious sorbet recipe by Heinrich Schneider combines the earthy flavour of beetroot with zingy raspberry, heady lavender and fragrant verbena. Textures, too, are equally well balanced, with smooth sorbet, delicate, creamy mousse and crisp shards of meringue stacked in a colourful mound. While this striking dessert requires a few cheffy pieces of equipment, each of the elements can be prepared in advance and put together at the last minute for a fuss-free finish to a dinner party.

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Birch ice cream with black bean pesto, spiced cream and milk skin

Heinrich Schneider's stunning ice cream recipe might look more like an alien landscape than an Italian dessert, but rest assured this sophisticated dish delivers formidably on flavour, too. Milk skin adds soft texture, while the combination of birch ice cream, black bean pesto sweetened with honey and plum seed oil and a smooth disc of spiced sesame cream results in a striking colour palette for a memorable end to a dinner party menu.

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Free-range egg with dried true morels and char caviar

Heinrich Schneider serves his playful recipe in lazer-cut eggshells, but some pretty shot glasses should suffice if you can't get your hands on these. A creative melding of land and sea, this canapé is comprised of a savoury custard filling laced with a rich oxtail consommé, a dusting of morel powder and a golden mound of char caviar. Serve the eggshells on a tuft of moss or bed of black salt.

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Vinschger cheese tortellini, pine oil, truffle and barley

This elegant tortellini recipe by Heinrich Schneider features an usual combination of pearl barley powder, pine oil andtruffle. The tortellini itself is stuffed with a creamy cheese filling made from Vinschger, a semi-hard cow's milk cheese fromSouth Tyrol known for its rich flavour and spicy aroma. With the vibrant addition of pine oil powder as an aromatic garnish, this dish celebrates the flavours of the South Tyrolean region.

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Matured purple carrot with herb emulsion

This beautifully minimalist amuse bouche recipe from Heinrich Schneider sees purple carrots served alongside a silky herb emulsion and vibrant herb jelly strips. The carrots are cooked sous vide before dehydrating to achieve an intense, concentrated flavour.