At first blush, you wouldn't think Amish and Italian cooking would be very compatible. After all, Amish cooking tends to be pretty plain, while Italian food is known for its spices and flavors. But if you go beyond the basil, the two cultures share a love of pasta and garden vegetables. So it is not surprising that Italian culinary influences ( think pizza) have seeped onto Amish menus over the years.
Homemade and hand-made noodles are a staple of Amish culinary culture and, of course, Italy is the cradle of pasta. So, yeah, a lot of overlap in the two styles of cooking.
📜 Other Similarities Between Amish and Italian
Both Amish and Italian cooking make use of fresh, seasonal ingredients. They also both use a lot of dairy products, such as cheese, butter, and milk. And both cuisines feature dishes that are made with pasta.
Tomatoes: Both Amish and Italian culinary culture make heavy use of tomatoes. Tomatoes are featured in recipes of both cultures extensively, from soups to stews to sandwiches.
Fresh Garden Herbs: While Italian cooking definitely makes use of spices more than Amish cooking, both cultures feature home-grown garden herbs a lot, from basil and thyme to rosemary.
Homemade Wine: Believe it or not, despite many people incorrectly associating the Amish with alcohol-as-taboo, the Amish and Italian culinary culture share a lot of homemade wine. In Italy, the wine tends to be grape-based. Among the Amish, dandelion and muscadine wine is more common.
❓ FAQ Amish-Italian Recipes
Amish pizzas will have less spice in the pizza sauce and will be loaded with more garden toppings, where as Italian pizzas have more spice and meat spicy meats like pepperoni and sausage.
yes, homemade pizza sauce made from garden tomatoes is a staple of Amish pizza.
Amish pasta generally consists of homemade noodles, where Italian pasta will come in all sorts of variety of rigatoni to rotini to spaghetti.
🍝 Five Favorite Amish-Italian Recipes
GRANDMA MARY'S ITALIAN MEATBALLS: This post has two meatball recipes in it, one Amish, one my grandmother's, plus a video of my grandmother and my Uncle Pat taste testing a few meatballs. This video was taken several years ago. My grandmother, by the way, is now 91 and doing quite well. Click here.
GLORIA'S BARBECUED VENISON MEATBALLS: This is an amazing recipe and the wonderful sauce masks any "gamey" flavor.
RIGATONI RECIPE: This is a recipe popular among the Amish for a rigatoni supper.
CLASSIC AMISH PIZZA LOAF: This pizza loaf recipe has been popular on Amish365.com and is popular in Amish kitchens!
PIZZA MUFFINS: Well this is a fun, savory twist on a sweet snack. I might have to try this one with Aster sometime. Yum! Click here for the recipe.
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