Lunch Recipes

Lunch in Italy is an occasion! The first course primo is usually a pasta dish while the secondo usually features a fish recipe or meat recipe with a range of great sides.

And for a truly authentic selection of Italian lunch recipes it’s hard to beat the great range of ideas from Gino D’Acampo. From quick lunch recipes to more aspirational dishes, the beauty of Gino’s Italian lunch dishes is they use fresh, quality ingredients to make hearty, filling, delicious meals that don’t take hours!

From easy Italian soup recipes to swift yet filling meals – such as poached eggs with crispy pancetta, sticky spicy lamb sausages or beef carpaccio with rocket – these Italian lunch recipes are quick to make and delicious to eat.

So, if you’re looking for great ideas for a top quality lunch then look no further! You can find a full range of the very best recipes for Italian lunch dishes in Gino’s best-selling recipe books or you can find a selection of great ideas below. Time to start cooking!

Lunch

ZUPPA DI ORZO PERLATO E MANZOBEEF AND BARLEY SOUP

Barley has been cultivated in Italy since ancient times. It was believed to give fighters extra strength – gladiators were known as the hordearii, or ‘barley eaters’, and Roman soldiers used to march off to war with a bag of barley, which they boiled up in their helmets to make porridge. Barley is great in soups, adding a nice bite, and here it absorbs the rich flavour of the beef stock. Serve...

Serves

Ingredients

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Extracted from Gino's Italian Adriatic Escape: A taste of Italy from Veneto to Puglia by Gino D’Acampo (published by Hodder & Stoughton) on 18th October 2018. Photography credit – Dan Jones, Holly Bryson & Trevor Butterfield

FIORI DI ZUCCHINE FRITTI E RIPIENI DI RICOTTADEEP-FRIED COURGETTE FLOWERS STUFFED WITH RICOTTA

Courgette flowers, sold in bunches in Italian markets in midsummer, are usually a privilege reserved for the kitchen gardener in Britain. They're a rare treat in the shops, so if you see courgette flowers for sale snap them up and cook them the same day – they don’t last long. For variety, add some fresh mint to the ricotta mixture or pop in a small cube of mozzarella.