Pappardelle is a famous Tuscan pasta variety. When paired with ragù di cinghiale (made with wild boar), they become one of the region's best gastronomic experiences. Unlike classic ragù, the one prepared with wild boar has an intense, much stronger flavor achieved by long, slow simmering in a rich sauce of tomatoes and red wine.

The tender meat paired with fresh egg pasta is a combination full of flavors and tradition in every single bite - rich and delicious, topped with a generous amount of chopped fresh parsley and a sprinkle of Parmigiano, pappardelle al ragù di cinghiale make a perfect, comforting winter dish, especially when paired with a glass of Tuscan red wine.

Known as the holiest of holies of Italian cuisine, the Florentine-style beef steak is prepared exclusively with dry-aged beef from the Chianina cattle, which is particularly prized for its tenderness. Even though bistecca alla Fiorentina is often described as a T-bone steak, it is much closer to a porterhouse - since it's cut closer to the center, the tenderloin is much larger than the one on a regular T-bone.

Also, bistecca alla Fiorentina must be thick; the cut needs to be at least three fingers wide so that when the meat is grilled over a very hot flame, a nice, slightly charred crust forms on the outside of the steak while the inside remains succulent. 

Porchetta is a traditional, moist, boneless pork roast prepared all over Italy. This rustic dish is made by carefully deboning a piglet or a fully grown pig, flavoring it generously with salt, garlic, rosemary, fennel seeds or some other aromatic herbs and filling it with the stuffing, which changes depending on the region - it can be the liver, fat or pieces of skin and meat, also flavored with salt and spices.

The meat is then rolled up, spitted and slowly roasted over a wood fire. When finished, it is sliced very thinly and served warm or cold with some bread. Although popular in the whole country, with many regions offering their spin on the recipe, porchetta originated in central Italy, with Ariccia, in the Province of Rome, being the town most closely associated with it. 

Polpette al sugo is a traditional Italian dish consisting of meatballs in sauce. Although there are numerous recipes, the meatballs are usually made with a combination of ground meat (beef or veal), eggs, bread soaked in milk, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, parsley, salt, and pepper.

Once shaped, the meatballs are browned in a pan and then cooked in a sauce consisting of onions, olive oil, tomatoes, and seasonings. The dish is covered with a lid and cooked over low heat until the sauce thickens and the meatballs are fully cooked. 

Porchetta di Ariccia is a savory, moist, boneless pork roast with origins in the province of Rome, along with being a culinary icon of the Lazio region. Mature pigs are deboned and stuffed with numerous seasonings such as fennel, rosemary, and garlic.

The pigs are then slowly roasted on a spit over a wood fire, resulting in succulent meat and crispy skin. The name of the dish stems from the word porco, meaning pork. It is a staple of numerous village festivals, fairs, markets, and concerts, when the street of Rome are packed with food trucks selling this flavorful dish. 

Polpette is a word denoting Italian meatballs, traditionally consisting of ground beef or veal (and sometimes pork) that is shaped into small balls. These meatballs are usually enriched with a wide variety of ingredients such as parsley, eggs, garlic, and sometimes even mortadella or Parmigiano Reggiano.

Although some might think that polpette are served with pasta, that is mostly an American thing, and Italian polpette are typically consumed on their own as a snack, appetizer, or finger food that is especially beloved by children of all ages.

Also known as arrustelle or rustelle in local dialect, arrosticini are skewers made with castrato, the meat of castrated sheep, mutton, or sometimes even lamb, traditionally grilled on an elongated, charcoal-fired brazier called fornacella.

One of the most popular meat dishes of modern Italian cuisine, these skewers were once a staple of shepherds who lived in the mountainous areas of Abruzzo, prepared merely with leftover sheep meat of lesser quality. Today, arrosticini are made with well-marbled, more tender cuts mixed with hefty chunks of ovine fat, which makes them particularly succulent. 

Pappardelle alla lepre is an ancient Tuscan dish – allegedly, Boccaccio himself was impressed with these pasta ribbons which are cooked in broth and flavored with hare meat. The preparation of this rich dish is time-consuming – the hare must be marinated in wine, vinegar, and aromatic herbs in order to develop the flavor and eliminate the strong gamey smell, and it is then slowly simmered with chopped onions, carrots, celery, wine, tomatoes, bay leaves, salt, pepper, and stock.

Interestingly, the original name of this dish was pappardelle sulla lepre, meaning pappardelle on top of the hare, allegedly due to the fact that it was once much easier to find the hare than eggs or flour – so the typical plate used to contain lots of meat and only a few ribbons of pasta. 

Porchetta is a traditional moist boneless pork roast prepared all over Italy. It originated in Lazio but many regions offer their spin on the recipe. Regardless of the region, the basic method is always the same: the pig is gutted, carefully trimmed, and washed.

The belly is then filled with the chosen stuffing, generously salted, rolled up and roasted until the crackling is golden, hard, and crunchy. The Umbrian version is stuffed with the pig’s chopped entrails mixed with lard, garlic, salt, pepper, and wild fennel.