We Americans like to think we own the comfort food genre, but I'd argue the Italians have us beat in the warm, fuzzy, comfort-via-cooking department. Consider Italian chefs who can't spend five minutes in a culinary conversation without mentioning cooking at their mothers' or nonnas' knees.

And what about pizza, arguably America's favorite comfort food? Sure, we've made it our own, but if we're considering pizza's origins, then the point obviously goes to the Italians. To them must also go the credit for comforting classics like spaghetti Bolognese, fettuccine Alfredo, lasagna, arancini, chicken cacciatore, veal Parmesan, osso buco, the list goes on and on!