Experience La Dolce Vita with Donal’s Italian Kitchen

Join Donal Skehan in discovering the best of everyday Italian cooking in brand new series, airing Wednesday 2 September

In this brand-new series, Donal’s Italian Kitchen, airing on Wednesday 2 September on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player at 8.30pm, Donal Skehan takes us around Italy chasing the places, people, and dishes that have shaped his cooking.

He revisits honeymoon memories in Florence, learns from two Italian grandmothers – or Nonne – with a lifetime of wisdom between them, shares Italian-American diner recipes, and explores pasta in all its forms with dishes that anyone can recreate at home.

Each of the nine episodes brings a different side of Italian food and a look into Donal’s own kitchen. In the first episode, “La Dolce Vita”, airing on Wednesday, Donal proves the old Italian saying is true: “Forget ‘I love you’ – just cook’. This episode is all about food as affection, starting with the swoon-worthy “Marry Me Chicken” in a creamy sun-dried tomato sauce, followed by a squash risotto made luxe with crispy prosciutto. For dessert, a delicate Rhubarb and Orange Pannacotta rounds things off with a little sweetness and shine. 

Other episodes explore food based on Donal’s personal experiences with Italy, including discovering how the Italians do lunch – with a proper sit-down meal and lots of courses! Throughout the series, Donal’s recipes range from simple, slow-cooked dinners for unhurried weekends, to speedy midweek lunch fixes, to indulgent classic desserts.

Speaking about the programme, Donal said: “This has been a dreamy series to make, and it is filled with Italian-inspired home-cooking classics that are going to make life that little bit easier in the kitchen, particularly as we all head back into new routines and with back-to-school and work rhythms. The series is jam-packed with traditional Italian food classics as well as new favourites that are worth breaking the rules for. From midweek saviours to crave-worthy Italian-inspired desserts, I hope that this new series will be something nice to sit down and watch in the evenings this autumn.”
 
Donal’s Italian Kitchen begins on Wednesday 2 September on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player at 8.30pm and runs for nine episodes.
 
-ENDS-

Kate Smyth, RTÉ Communications Lead