Fish, meat, vegetables – the Italians will happily take any of their fantastic ingredients, throw it into a pan with lots of other aromatic flavours and gently simmer it until they transform into a stew. Our collection of Italian stew recipes are testament to how popular they are in both the north and south of the country.

For fish, try Brodetto, a simple dish that’s cooked all along Italy’s coastlines. For a vegetarian stew, Aubergine caponata is a stunning Sicilian concoction of aubergines, pine nuts, raisins, olives and capers in a rich tomato sauce. Two of Italy’s most famous stews involve chicken; Pollo alla Romana sees the bird simply cooked in peppers, tomatoes and white wine, while Pollo alla cacciatora is a more rustic affair with plenty of red wine and juniper.

Beef stews are where the Italians really shine, however. Coda alla vaccinara (oxtail stew) is one of Rome’s most beloved dishes, and Brasato al Barolo is the perfect example of Piedmont’s cuisine – beef braised in plenty of Barolo wine. In Milan, veal shanks are transformed into Ossobuco, while Ana Roš swaps beef for venison in her simple Goulash with bread soufflé.