We all know the classic risotto alla milanese and this recipe also has it origins in Milan.

To be precise the Casanova Grill Restaurant in The Westin Palace Hotel. Try it at home.

Traditional Italian recipe from Milan

Don't leave Bergamo without trying the special home made local pasta called casonsei or casonselli, especially during winter.

A version from nearby Brescia includes eggs in the pasta preparation and requires less fatty meats.

"I would very much like to have the recipe for Sbrisolona. Is it possible for you to email it to me?" - Nancy, Massachusetts.

This Italian crumbly cake recipe is typical of the Mantova area and locally is also known as 'barlocca' or 'tortionata'. The version below is courtesy of the Regione Lombardia. The ingredients are identical for the traditional biscuits of Sant'Angelo Lodigiano called 'colissoni'. In the very oldest versions neither eggs nor butter are used. In some recipes the mixture is flavoured with lemon juice.

ingredients

250g white flour, 250g yellow flour, 250g caster sugar, 150g butter, 250g chopped almonds, 3 egg yolks, 1 sachet of vanilla.

This cake has been requested from us by Albert who couldn't remember the exact recipe, but couldn't forget how much he liked it.

This dish is easy and filling and has probably been made in the mountains of Valtellina for centuries.

This dish was sent to us by Helen D. whose grandmother is from Teglio. The recipe is for small, flat pancakes made with grano saraceno flour.

Once you get the hang of cooking the rice to perfection, there is world of risottos out there, or is that 'risotti'. It's not too difficult to look like a genius. We'll bring you the recipe for radicchio and gorgonzola soon.

Pizzoccheri is a pasta which goes extremely well with butter and is ideal for those cold winter days in the lost valleys of the Valtellina. So lost, that even Garibaldi had second thoughts about heading into them.

Translated this is Salame d'oca con mostarda di fichi e chips di sedano.

Try it at home or else head to the Sheraton Diana Majestic Hotel in Via Piave 42, Milan, and sample it from their Christmas menu.

We suggest you try this dish on the 11th November every year in honor of San Martino. The date is now, in effect, Vino Novello Day and many related events are staged across the country.

To paraphrase John Lennon, all we can say is give tripe a chance. Cooked well it is a delicacy. Cooked badly.. well. We're not to sure if delicious Italian tripe recipe from Lombardia will be picked up by the search engines, but we'll find out.