Chef Gabe Bertaccini was born and raised in Florence, Italy, where he learned to cook at a very early age. By 13, he was already working in professional kitchens, and it wasn’t long before he moved to the United States to continue his culinary career. It was in the US that Gabe’s extraordinary talent and charming demeanor attracted the attention of television producers and soon won the hearts of Food Network viewers. A natural teacher, Gabe has also served as a mentor on Ciao House and Worst Cooks in America. His latest venture is his own cooking show on the Food Network’s YouTube channel, Cook Like an Italian, where he cooks classic Italian recipes featuring simple, fresh ingredients. Gabe firmly believes that uncomplicated cooking is the true recipe for success, so we’ve rounded up 20 of Gabe’s recipes that will get you well on your way.

We’re starting with a true Italian staple, Gabe's Chicken Parm With Blistered Cherry Tomatoes and Basil, or pollo alla pizzaiola. He butterflies the chicken breasts before pounding them thin and then dredging them in flour, eggs and a seasoned breading mixture, or, as Gabe calls it, “impanatura,” which translates to crispy breadcrumbs. The chicken is topped with fresh mozzarella and baked in the oven until it is bubbling and hot. To pair with the chicken, he roasts cherry tomatoes that are still on the vine, acknowledging that there is a “certain rusticness to this whole dish.” To the tomatoes, he adds freshly torn basil, good-quality olive oil, grated garlic and salt, creating a homemade tomato sauce that knocks any jarred sauce out of the park. “I have to tell you, there are just a few things in life that make me so happy, and the whole combo of tomatoes, mozzarella and crispy chicken is one of them.”

If you’ve ever wanted to try your hand at homemade pasta, this is the recipe to start with. Gabe’s rustic Pici all’Aglione is made with just three ingredients: flour, water and an egg. This not-meant-to-be-perfect pasta is popular in Gabe’s hometown of Tuscany and requires no fancy equipment. After making the dough, you simply roll the pasta into thick, spaghetti-like sections. The sauce for this pasta is made with what Gabe says is “an ungodly amount of olive oil” (the actual recipe calls for a quarter cup), garlic, San Marzano tomatoes and fresh basil. Once the pasta is cooked, you simply add it to the sauce and serve. This is what Gabe calls “comfort food at its best.” No argument here.

If you want to blow your family and friends’ minds — as well as their taste buds — then we recommend Gabe’s recipe for Lasagna Bianca. This version is made with fresh pasta and a filling made with mushrooms, sausage and a fontina béchamel sauce. The sauce is the reason this lasagna is named Bianca, the Italian word for white, because there are no tomatoes, aka red sauce, in this version. You can watch how easy and approachable Gabe makes the sauce, but you might get a little intimidated watching him roll out fresh pasta dough. However, if anyone can make a home cook feel empowered to give it a go, it’s Gabe. And if his affable “you can do it” attitude isn’t enough, then perhaps the four layers of deliciousness will be.

Ready for the next stop on the pasta train? Great, because we’ve arrived at Gabe’s Ravioli al Uovo. These ricotta cheese-stuffed ravioli topped with a brown butter-sage sauce have an unexpected surprise: a whole egg yolk hidden inside each one. When you cut into these pillowy ravioli, the egg yolks burst open and mix with the sauce in what can only be described as a flavor explosion.

We’re rolling right along with another ricotta-forward dish, Gabe’s twist on typical potato gnocchi. Gabe promises that this rustic yet elegant dish is going to be “one of your favorites.” The sauce for this ricotta gnocchi is made with San Marzano tomatoes, which come from the Italian city of Sorrento, the dish’s namesake city. The pasta dough is brightened up with lemon zest, another regional staple from Sorrento. The pasta and sauce are combined, topped with fresh mozzarella and baked in the oven until the cheese has melted into ooey-gooey perfection.

Gabe calls Spaghetti Carbonara “one of his favorite pasta dishes.” But Gabe’s recipe is nothing like the version you’ve likely seen on American menus, which is often made with a cream sauce and dotted with green peas. Instead, he renders guanciale — an Italian cured pork — to bring out the rich flavor. He then mixes egg yolks and a 60-40 ratio of pecorino and Parmigiano cheeses. The pecorino brings the salty flavor, while the Parmigiano brings the sweet. On Cook Like an Italian, Gabe's secret to avoid making “scrambled eggs” is tempering the sauce — this means he slowly adds heated pasta water to the egg and cheese mixture to ensure the eggs don't heat up too quickly and solidify. This simple step is what he says is the key to this “creamy, rich, delicious and salty” pasta sauce.

According to Gabe, making pasta from scratch is not just for the pros. If you have patience and a “can-do” attitude, as well as the right flour, you’ll have the hang of it in no time … no nonna needed. As for that right flour, be sure to pick up 00 flour, an ultra-fine Italian wheat flour that is ideal for making fresh pasta, pizzas and Italian breads. Once you’ve mastered the pasta, the classic tomato sauce this recipe calls for is a breeze. Feeling bold? Follow the step-by-step directions at the link below for the full recipe.

This next recipe is an Italian version of crêpes. Whereas in France, you might find crêpes filled with sweet ingredients, the Italian version is often filled with savory ones. Gabe's Crespelle alla Fiorentina (which you may be able to guess hails from Florence) uses a traditional Italian filling made from spinach and ricotta. The crêpes are filled and placed in rows inside a casserole dish, then covered with a béchamel sauce and topped with tomato passata, a smooth, strained sauce. Gabe loves this light and airy dish, saying that it “tastes like it’s been cooking for hours, if not days.”

As a kid, Gabe grew up foraging for mushrooms in the forests of Florence. At the end of the day, his family would bring home their hauls and turn them into a rich, velvety risotto. While you may not be able to replicate Gabe’s idyllic-sounding childhood, you can replicate his mushroom risotto. This recipe calls for a mix of whatever mushrooms you can find at your grocery store, but Gabe does have an affinity for chanterelles if you can find them.

Traditional Italian menus usually feature pasta as the first course, aka the primo, while the protein is typically served as the second course, the secondo. Dear reader, we have arrived at the secondo, and first up is a whole-roasted branzino served with a Sicilian herb sauce. Don’t let cooking a whole fish scare you. Gabe promises this is much simpler than it sounds, and he’s not just giving lip service. He simply scores the fish, stuffs it with fresh herbs and lemon slices, and brushes the outside with a mixture of olive oil and garlic before putting it in the oven. That really is all there is to it.

Gabe suggests serving it with a salmoriglio, a traditional Sicilian lemon and herb sauce. This one is made from a mixture of fresh herbs, Italian pepperoncini, lemon, garlic and olive oil, which creates a vibrant, fresh sauce that pairs perfectly with the oven-crisp fish.

Chicken al Mattone, sometimes called brick chicken, is a popular Italian chicken dish that uses a method of cooking a whole chicken underneath a foil-wrapped brick. This traditional Tuscan technique is known for creating the optimal balance of both juicy meat and crispy skin. Gabe’s recipe calls for a fresh, herbaceous salt rub that can be made in the food processor. The recipe even makes enough rub so that you can store leftovers in the fridge for up to a month. Who doesn’t love that?

The chicken is spatchcocked, or butterflied, so that it can lie as flat as possible. Then, it’s coated in the herb rub before being transferred to the refrigerator for at least two hours to allow the skin to dry out. When it is time to cook, the brick is used to weigh the chicken down inside a cast-iron pan so that as much of the skin is touching the direct heat to allow for that crispy sear. After roasting the chicken in the oven, Gabe advises letting it rest for about 10 minutes, “so the meat relaxes,” before carving and serving with the pan drippings drizzled right over the top.

This flavorful seafood stew comes from humble origins. Essentially, whatever the fishermen didn’t sell each day would be cleverly turned into this delicious one-pot dish. The tomato base is distinctly Italian, as is the grilled garlic bread traditionally served with it.

Pesce all’Acqua Pazza — which translates to "fish in crazy water" — feels like a dramatic way to describe this flavorful halibut dish served over a tomato, fennel and caper-based broth. In this recipe, the fish is cooked right in the stew and served with a bright green salad. You’ll definitely want to scroll down to find Gabe’s recipe for grilled bread to serve alongside this dish, creating the perfect way to sop up every last bite.

One of the most endearing qualities about Chef Gabe is that he’s not afraid to admit that nobody wants to spend hours and hours in the kitchen. “Not even me, and I’m a chef,” he confesses. This is why he loves this recipe for Lamb Chops Scottadito, which takes only 15 minutes to cook. He says the dish — which translates to “burnt fingers” — is "meant to be eaten hot off the grill, so irresistible you barely have time to grab a napkin." The final results are well worth it: After marinating the lamb chops in an herby, olive oil mixture for a minimum of two hours, simply grill them over very high heat. The key here is to get a crusty sear before carefully (this is where that burnt-fingers part comes in) flipping these over and charring them on all sides. After taking them off the heat, Gabe likes to sear some lemon wedges and serve the lamb chops with a squeeze of hot, caramelized lemon.

Fritto Misto, or fried mix, is a light, crispy Italian appetizer or antipasto to serve at your next dinner party. The secret to Gabe's crispy tempura batter is white wine, which evaporates faster in hot oil than water, resulting in a light, crunchy layer that doesn’t overpower the dish. Gabe’s recipe calls for frying a mix of seafood, vegetables, sage leaves, parsley and even lemon wedges, then serving everything with a lemon aioli dipping sauce.

If there’s one thing a delicious Italian meal isn’t complete without, it’s some hot, grilled bread (this could be said about any cuisine, but we digress). Gabe’s Garlic Confit Garlic Bread is the kind of side that is definitely bringing main-character energy to the table. Serve this with pasta or roasted chicken, or pair it with a seafood stew. Thank us later.

If you’re looking for an easy weeknight crowd-pleaser, you’ve found it. Gabe’s Penne alla Vodka comes together in just 30 minutes. The recipe calls for a half cup of tomato paste — almost an entire can — but that's what gives the sauce its rich, creamy flavor. Find the full list of ingredients and the recipe below.

Gabe says this will be “your go-to focaccia,” and we can understand why. While the potato-based dough takes a little patience, once it has risen, this dish comes together so easily that you’ll be wondering what took you so long to try it. Cooked in a cast-iron skillet and dotted with cherry tomatoes and Italian black olives, this is the kind of dish that would make a great addition to a dinner party or even a stellar hostess gift.

If bread and salad had a baby, it would be this perfect Panzanella. Make this dish in the height of summer, when the tomatoes are practically falling off the vines. The recipe calls for scoring and salting the tomatoes so they release all their juices, and then using the juice as the base of a bright marinade that is liberally poured over toasted, cubed bread. Best of all, this is the kind of dish that tastes better the longer it sits, so it works great as a fabulous make-ahead dish to bring to a summer picnic or just to have at the ready when your summer day turns into a lazy summer night.