What to cook up for Thanksgiving in an Italian Family

In Italy we do not celebrate Thanksgiving it is strictly a North American tradition from what I can tell.

In Italy, there’s not really a holiday that equates to Thanksgiving, but in Southern Italy, patronal feasts still represent a moment of big familial gatherings and conviviality and are made to celebrate and thank the patron saints of the city for protecting the city and its inhabitants.

When we emigrated to America we didn’t really celebrate Thanksgiving since we had no historical tie to it and we have no family here to celebrate it with. At times we were invited by close family friends or we invited other immigrant friends of ours to celebrate it with us. But there were times where we just stayed home and relaxed like it was another weekend. Now to shock some of you: whenever we did celebrate it, we hardly ever prepared a turkey. I know, Thanksgiving with no turkey, shocker. But looking back, we actually celebrated it without a lot of its food staples. We either put an Italian twist to the recipe or just cooked up something else entirely.  

Antipasti

Italian cuisine possesses many starters with many variations of cold or hot dishes, complicated or simpler dishes, such as canapes and bruschetta. The two main categories now, however, are land-based appetizers, based on meat and vegetables, or seafood appetizers, based on fish. For now, I will show you some quick, simple, and delicious appetizers to start.

Main Courses

The famous turkey cannot be missed on American tables with its side dishes, such as sweet potatoes in casserole or mash-potatoes. But in an Italian table in America on Thanksgiving you can find the traditional lasagna or in a Sicilian family the “pasta o furnu”; The typically baked anelletti that are usually prepared in Palermo on the day of the patron Saint Rosolia. Or the delicious handmade pasta such as tagliatelle with Bolognese sauce, or the ravioli with mushrooms.

Dessert

Finally, but certainly not least, in a classic Italian dinner it cannot end without the most traditional Italian desserts loved from all over the world, desserts that I think par excellence: the creamy Tiramisu`, the king of sweets the Cannoli, the majestic Cassata, or the Torta della Nonna with its delicate and delicious crema pasticcera.