Can I use store-bought shells?
Yes. Good-quality store-bought shells (look for Sicilian imports) are a perfectly acceptable shortcut and let you focus on the filling.
Italian · dessert
110m
Total time
8
Servings
420
kcal
hard
Difficulty
tap to check off
FAQ · Things people ask
Yes. Good-quality store-bought shells (look for Sicilian imports) are a perfectly acceptable shortcut and let you focus on the filling.
Fresh sheep's milk ricotta is traditional and has a richer, more complex flavor. Cow's milk ricotta works fine — drain it well regardless.
The traditional garnishes are chopped pistachios, candied orange peel, or a glacé cherry. In Sicily, chopped pistachios from Bronte are the standard.
Related · You might also cook

Cotechino takes its name from 'cotica' — pork rind — which is ground into the filling and slow-cooked until it melts into something silky and unctuous, unlike any other sausage. The Romans gave lentils as gifts on New Year's Eve because their coin shape was thought to bring wealth; Artusi was writing this combination into Italian cookbooks in 1891. It's a dish with weight behind it.

Boxing Day morning, half a panettone on the counter, no one wants to start cooking. Here's what you do: slice it thick, dip it in custard, fry it in butter. Done in 25 minutes.

Pasta al burro e parmigiano — or pasta in bianco as every Italian mother calls it — is what you make when the fridge is bare and dinner needs to be on the table in twelve minutes. Butter, Parmesan, starchy pasta water: three ingredients that know exactly what they're doing.

Pizzelle come from Abruzzo, where they've been pressed in patterned irons for at least several centuries — some claim they descend from the ancient Roman crustulum. The choice between anise and lemon zest is not a compromise: both are canonical, and neither is wrong.