Easy Italian Recipes To Make As A Family

Children who are good eaters have been trained to taste things from a very early age. This is what experience has taught us and today it’s also discussed in a book, Babbo Chef, grande cucina per piccole donne e piccoli uomini, which just came out in Italy. It contains 100 recipes created by some of Italy’s best-known chefs, all of whom have become dads. Here are a few of them to prepare together— and raise little gourmands.

Matilde’s gnocchetti by chef MORENO CEDRONI

Recommended age: 6–12

Ingredients for 4 children:

Put the unpeeled garlic in a skillet with the extra virgin olive oil and cook on low for about 10 minutes. Remove the garlic and add the carefully rinsed clams. Add the wine and reduce, and then cover and cook on medium until the clams open. Remove the clams with a slotted spoon and add the chopped tomatoes and 1/2 cup of water to the skillet. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the clams from the shells and add them to the sauce with a tablespoon of chopped parsley. For the gnocchi, boil the potatoes, peel and put them through a ricer. Add the flour and blend quickly. Roll into finger-sized strips. Cut the strips into pieces (I prefer smaller pieces because they collect the sauce better). Cook the gnocchi in salted boiling water and remove as soon as they float to the surface. The rest of the procedure is very easy. Put the red sauce in a skillet, add the hot gnocchi and stir over a medium flame. Amalgamate the sauce off the burner so it doesn’t cook off too much liquid, which would leave evident traces of oil.

Fish sticks and pasta by chef FABRIZIO FERRARI

Recommended age: 4–8

Ingredients for 4 children: