Fast Food, Italian-Style

Re-create Italian street foods like thin, crispy pizza and pressed panini in your own kitchen with these authentic recipes.

Related To:

Margherita Pizza

You can't beat this simple Italian classic, topped with tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella and basil. Debi and Gabriele wood-fire their pizza to give it an extra-crisp crust, but you can get the same result with a pizza stone in your oven.

Get the Recipe: Margherita Pizza

David's Focaccia

Focaccia was invented on the Northern Italian coast, but you can grab a slice from a bakery for a quick snack. Try topping your own with potato, zucchini or even grapes.

Get the Recipe: Le Focacce

Arancini

These delectable fried snacks are made with leftover risotto. David Rocco adds mozzarella inside for a cheesy center.

Get the Recipe: Arancini

Crostone di Carpaccio: Open-Faced Carpaccio Sandwich

Top crunchy crostini with barely cooked beef tenderloin, bitter arugula and freshly shaved Parmesan cheese.

Get the Recipe: Crostone di Carpaccio: Open-Faced Carpaccio Sandwich

Taleggio and Pear Panini

Combine the sweet-and-salty flavors of pears and taleggio cheese between crusty ciabatta bread and press until gooey.

Get the Recipe: Taleggio and Pear Panini

Grilled Foccacia Sandwich

Make your own focaccia on the grill with pizza dough, then fold it into a hand-held sandwich stuffed with arugula, prosciutto, Parmesan cheese and lemon.

Get the Recipe: Grilled Focaccia Sandwich

Sausage and Buffalo Mozzarella Pizza

Roger Mooking tops his pizza with roasted garlic in place of pizza sauce, then sprinkles on Italian sausage and sliced fresh mozzarella.

Get the Recipe: Sausage and Buffalo Mozzarella Pizza

Bruschetta Pizzaiola

Turn a baguette into mini pizza-style bruschetta by toasting bread slices and topping them with mozzarella, tomatoes and basil leaves.

Get the Recipe: Bruschetta Pizzaiola

Three Stuffed Pizzas

Use David Rocco’s pizza dough recipe and cooking techniques to create four individual-sized pizzas that are filled with a variety of meat, cheese and vegetable centers.

Get the Recipe: Stuffed Pizza with Variations: Spinach and Fontina, Escarole, Anchovy, Pine Nut and Raisin, Prosciutto Cotto and Scamorza

Flatbread Salad Pizza

A light salad of winter greens and a sweet, tangy dressing add substantial flavor and texture to plain flatbread without the weight of melted toppings.

Get the Recipe: Flatbread Salad Pizza

Schiacciata Con l'Uva

This recipe, which calls for pizza dough to be topped with sweet grapes, plenty of sugar (for caramelizing) and rosemary (for a balancing earthy note) is a marker of the Italian grape harvest.

Get the Recipe: Schiacciata Con l'Uva: Focaccia Topped with Grapes

Grilled Zucchini and Herb Pizza

Savory, slightly spicy grilled zucchini makes an excellent topping for a freshly baked summer pie.

Get the Recipe: Grilled Zucchini and Herb Pizza

Shrimp, Artichoke and Fresh Ricotta Flatbread

Try Kelsey Nixon’s entirely different take on flatbread by topping yours with creamy ricotta cheese, garlic-sautéed shrimp and marinated artichokes.

Get the Recipe: Shrimp, Artichoke and Fresh Ricotta Flatbread

Pizza Pockets

Everyone knows the best part of the pizza is the dough, so stuff all your toppings on the inside of Giada’s triangular pizza pockets to enjoy even more of the chewy, crispy crust.

Get the Recipe: Pizza Pockets

Sausage and Stracchino Cheese Crostini

A pork sausage and stracchino cheese paste makes for a salty, savory and rich country-bread topping.

Get the Recipe: Sausage and Stracchino Cheese Crostini

Buffalo Mozzarella and Tomato Pizza

Chunky canned tomatoes, olive oil and the freshest Buffalo mozzarella cheese top this rustic pizza, which comes from Roger Mooking’s grandmother.

Get the Recipe: Buffalo Mozzarella and Tomato Pizza

Four Italian Pizzas from David Rocco

In the pizza episode of David Rocco’s Dolce Vita, David proves that authentic Italian pizza can be much more than a simple Margherita pie. In his three variations on a basic pie, David incorporates such ingredients as potatoes, onions and chile peppers, and smoked cheese with pork sausage.

Get the Recipe: Pizza with Variations: Potato, Onion and Chile, Sausage and Scamorza, Tomato