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Five Essential Ingredients for Italian Cuisine

Five Essential Ingredients for Italian Cuisine

Authenticity is all that matters with Roma’s Italian Specialties!

If you’ve ever wondered how to eat like an Italian, the trick is to keep these ingredients in your pantry at all times!  Some of the best and most effective diets feature many of the Italian staples that you are about to read.  Health benefits, at delicious flavor, what else could you ask for from meals?

 

Olive Oil

The most used oil in the Mediterranean, olive oil is an essential first step to eating healthier and flavorfully.  With it you can lower your intake of saturated fat, increase your levels of good HDL cholesterol, and lowers your consumption of bad LDL cholesterol.  You can even turn to extra-virgin olive oil for antioxidants!  

 

Tomatoes

This one didn’t really need to be said, everybody thinks of tomatoes when they think of Italian cuisine.  From tomato sauce to a fresh salad, you will always find a tomato within arms reach of an authentic Italian chef!

 

Garlic

Garlic is known for adding subtle flavor to any dish when used sparingly.  It doesn’t take much to notice!  Some of the health benefits includes certain anticancer characteristics, and has been linked to the prevention of blood clots.  Pretty cool, huh?

 

Whole Grains

Unrefined grains have been a base for most Mediterranean diets for centuries.  It’s important to leave the grains whole so they are digested more slowly and produce a subtle rise in glucose and insulin.  And the meal options are limitless!  Whole wheat pasta, whole grain bread, barley, and many many more!

 

Seafood

It’s no surprise than the peninsula of Italy has a steady supply of seafood from the Mediterranean Sea.  Seafood provides one of the biggest sources of protein in Italian cuisine.  Shrimp, scallops, and mussels are just three of the most common seafoods out there, but the list can go on for days!

 

If you strive for excellence, then include these in your dishes

The list of essential ingredients for Italian cuisine could continue for days, but these 5 are enough to get you started!  What do you think?  Anything we missed?  We’d love to hear from you!  What do you have in your pantry to give your meals that authentic Italian flavor?