Nonna-approved: exploring authentic Italian food in Southern Italy
Traditional Italian food from the south is honest, hearty, and tied to the land. Here’s how to recognize it, what to order, and a classic dish you can try making at home.
Southern Italy is home to some of the country’s most beloved and authentic Italian food. Real Italian cooking is simple, seasonal, and rooted in regional traditions—recipes made with love, passed down through generations, and always enjoyed around a table full of family. Let’s explore what makes southern Italian food so unforgettable.
If your perfect day includes a good meal, a great story, and a glass of wine you’ve never heard of, our Food & Wine Tours through Southern Italy are made for you. You’ll learn to make pasta by hand, taste olive oil straight from the nearby grove, and eat like you’re part of la famiglia.
How to spot authentic Italian food in Southern Italy
How do you know when you’ve found the kind of food Italians actually eat at home? When you’re in the south, authentic Italian food isn’t fancy, but it is honest, hearty, and made with love. If you see these things, you know you’re in the right place.
Simplicity
The best Southern Italian dishes use just a handful of ingredients and a few simple steps. Think ripe tomatoes, garden-fresh vegetables, local cheeses, extra-virgin olive oil, seafood pulled straight from the coast, and, of course, garlic. In Southern Italy, less is always more, because the flavors and the land speak for themselves.
Menus that change with the season
In Southern Italy, food follows nature’s rhythm. When you join one of our trips to Italy, you’ll see that the ingredients that make up your meals often mirror what’s growing nearby, no matter what time of year. Summer means sun-warmed tomatoes, grilled vegetables, and freshly caught fish. Autumn brings hearty pastas with wild mushrooms. Winter is brightened with Sicilian blood oranges, while spring celebrates artichokes, fava beans, and fragrant herbs. These fresh, seasonal ingredients keep the locals in tune with the changing seasons and ensure that the food tastes its best.
Southern Italy’s specialties
Many of those famous Italian dishes you might be dreaming of can trace their roots back to the south. Every charming town and every local family has something special they are proud to serve, and when you taste it, you’ll taste the history, sunshine, and love permeating through Southern Italy. These specialties aren’t just dishes—they’re stories passed down through generations.
Orecchiette con cime di rapa: little ear-shaped pasta tossed with olive oil, garlic, bitter greens, and anchovies.
Arancini: golden fried rice balls filled with ragu or cheese. Every family guards their recipe like treasure. Definitely don’t skip trying these!
Focaccia Barese: soft bread baked with tomatoes and olives on top.
Caponata: a soul-warming sweet-and-sour eggplant dish, slow-cooked with capers and vinegar.
Altamura bread: a rustic, wood-fired durum wheat loaf from Puglia with a crunchy crust.
Pasta alla Norma: a Sicilian masterpiece with eggplant, tomatoes, ricotta salata, and basil. Named for an opera because it’s just as dramatic and unforgettable.
Granita: shaved ice so fine it melts on your tongue, flavored with lemon, almond, or coffee—this is how Italians stay cool in the summer heat.
Traveler tip: If you want to eat like a true Italian, follow the locals. Ignore the restaurants in crowded areas with pictures of food on the signs. They’re often tailored to tourists and won’t necessarily serve the most authentic Italian food.
Best destinations for Southern Italian food
On the hunt for the best destination for authentic Italian food on your Italy tour? Here are some of our favorite destinations for Southern Italian food that you can visit on tour with us.
Puglia
In sun-drenched Puglia, life moves at the rhythm of the land, and the flavors are as welcoming as the people. Puglia’s food is simple but unforgettable—handmade orecchiette tossed with fresh vegetables, pillowy focaccia Barese, crusty Altamura bread, and generous drizzles of golden olive oil. On our Food & Wine: Campania, Puglia & the Amalfi Coast tour, visit a traditional masseria (a type of historic farmhouse renowned throughout Puglia) in Ostuni, where you’ll share small plates surrounded by ancient olive groves and taste what makes this region so special. Sip a chilled caffe Leccese (iced espresso with almond milk) on a hot afternoon, bite into a warm puccia sandwich in Matera on our A Week in Puglia & Southern Italy: Bari, Lecce & Matera tour, or linger over dinner and a wine tasting in Salice Salentino. In Puglia, the meals are simple, soulful, and full of love.
Naples
If Naples has a heartbeat, it’s found in its kitchens. Here, food is a celebration of life, tradition, and community. Take a food-themed walking tour through the streets on our Food & Wine: Campania, Puglia & the Amalfi Coast tour and you’ll taste why: flaky pastry from a shop near the Church of San Domenico Maggiore, piping-hot Neapolitan pizza fresh from the oven, and zesty spaghetti alle vongole made with fresh clams and plenty of garlic. There’s nothing like the salt air in Naples to help you work up an appetite while you sip a glass of crisp falanghina!
Sicily
This island is a feast for the senses, and nothing shows its soul better than Sicilian cuisine. The food here is bold and deeply tied to the island’s geography and diverse history—as you’ll discover on our Food & Wine: Southern Italy & Sicily tour. From the bustling colors and smells of a Palermo food market to crispy arancini, rich pasta alla Norma, and frosty granita, the most important thing you need to know about Sicilian cuisine is that every bite tells a story. Whether you’re enjoying a leisurely lunch and wine tasting at a vineyard near Cefalu on our Sicily & Malta: Palermo to Valletta tour, savoring fresh ricotta at a Catania farm, or tasting chocolate at Sicily’s oldest factory, this is authentic Sicily—full of food that feeds the heart as much as the belly.
Unforgettable Italian culinary experiences you can enjoy on tour
If you ask an Italian, they’ll tell you that eating is one joy, but cooking together is another. On your tour of Italy, you can roll up your sleeves, join the locals, and learn to prepare dishes the way the Italian nonnas always have—by hand, with love, and (of course) with a glass of wine nearby.
Take a Pugliese cooking class in the Itria Valley
In Puglia, they say the secret to happiness is simple: good food, good wine, good company. At a countryside masseria on our Food & Wine: Campania, Puglia & the Amalfi Coast tour, you’ll roll fresh pasta by hand, press fluffy focaccia Barese, and taste locally produced olive oil that makes the food sing. This is true Italian cooking—humble, fresh, and full of love. After you’re finished cooking, you’ll sit with your host and fellow travelers to enjoy the meal like a true Italian.
Immerse yourself during a home visit with an Italian contessa
Step inside a Sicilian villa and sit down with a real contessa on our Food & Wine: Southern Italy & Sicily tour. You’ll share antipasti, focaccia, fresh buffalo mozzarella, and plenty of stories and laughter—an experience you’ll remember long after the last sip of wine. And after you enjoy a home-cooked meal in the countryside, you might even convince the contessa to share some of her best Italian cooking tips with you.
Experience a Neapolitan pizza demonstration
Join the pizza-making excursion on our Food & Wine: Campania, Puglia & the Amalfi Coast tour to visit a pizzeria and see how real pizza is made—just like it’s been done for generations. From the simple bread of the peasants to the fresh tomatoes from the New World, it became the dish that makes everyone gather at the table with joy.
Authentic Italian recipe: orecchiette con cime di rapa
Are you hungry yet? Try cooking this southern Italian staple at home.
Servings: 2
Ingredients:
- 8 oz fresh or dried orecchiette
- 3 garlic cloves, sliced
- ½ Calabrian chili, sliced (or substitute ½ tsp red pepper flakes)
- 5 anchovies
- ½ lb broccoli rabe (or substitute tender stem broccoli), chopped
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt
- Pecorino (optional)
Directions:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the orecchiette and cook until just under al dente (about two minutes less than the package directions).
Meanwhile, combine the garlic, chili, anchovies, and a drizzle of oil over medium-low heat in a skillet, gently stirring and breaking up the anchovies. Cook until the garlic has softened and the anchovies have dissolved, about five minutes.
Two minutes before the pasta is ready, add the chopped broccoli rabe to the pot with the pasta.
Drain the pasta and broccoli rabe, reserving one cup of the pasta water.
Add the pasta and broccoli rabe to the skillet with the anchovy mixture, along with a splash of pasta water, and toss to coat the pasta.
Continue cooking the mixture together, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens slightly and the pasta is al dente. Season with salt to taste.
Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and grated pecorino.
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