Fire Up the Grill: 5 Italian-Inspired Recipes for Father's Day
What's on the grill this Father's Day? These five Italian-inspired recipes — from a bone-in tomahawk to ribs with agrodolce sauce — turn a backyard cookout into something worth remembering.
Father's Day in the US means one thing: the grill is on and dinner is a celebration.
These five recipes bring an Italian approach to the occasion — a tomahawk steak seasoned with aromatic salt, ribs marinated in red wine with an agrodolce sauce, spatchcocked chicken rubbed with chili and herbs, and two desserts that close the meal with the kind of finish that makes people linger at the table.
Grilled Tomahawk is the centerpiece — a thick-cut bone-in ribeye with that long rib bone intact, seasoned with an aromatic salt of garlic, juniper, rosemary, and sage blended with clarified butter. The method is straightforward: sear on a hot grill, rest under foil, and serve at medium-rare. The bone isn't just for show — it keeps the meat moist all the way through.
Pro tip: take the steak out of the fridge at least an hour before cooking — a cold steak hitting a hot grill cooks unevenly, and with a cut this thick, the difference shows.
Grilled Ribs spend two hours in a red wine and rosemary marinade before they go anywhere near the grill. The result is meat that's tender before it even takes on the char. The agrodolce sauce — tomato, brown sugar, mustard, Worcestershire, Tabasco — is the Italian-American bridge that makes this version feel familiar and different at the same time.
Pro tip: make the agrodolce sauce the day before — it deepens overnight and tastes better cold out of the fridge than freshly made.
Pollo alla Diavola is the Roman answer to spatchcock chicken — butterflied flat, rubbed with a paste of chili, rosemary, sage, and garlic, then pressed down under a weight in a hot pan until the skin is lacquered and crisp. It takes about 50 minutes and feeds four without effort.
Pro tip: the weight is non-negotiable — a heavy pan or a brick wrapped in foil works fine. Without it, the skin steams instead of crisping.
Coffee Panna Cotta is the make-ahead dessert — cream, espresso, sugar, and gelatin set in molds the night before, unmolded at the table and finished with a dark chocolate and coffee sauce. Silky, not too sweet, and ready when you are.
Pro tip: dip the molds briefly in hot water before unmolding — just the outside, a few seconds, and the panna cotta releases cleanly without tearing.
Strawberry Tiramisu with Limoncello Cream layers ladyfingers soaked in a limoncello and lemon syrup with mascarpone cream and macerated strawberries. It's lighter than a classic tiramisu, brighter, and assembles in individual glasses so serving is effortless.
Pro tip: macerate the strawberries with lemon zest and sugar at least 30 minutes ahead — they release their juices and become far more flavorful than fresh-cut fruit straight from the bowl.
The panna cotta and tiramisu both need refrigerator time — make them the night before and the day of the party is just about the grill. Start the ribs first: two hours in the marinade, then the grill. The tomahawk needs an hour at room temperature before cooking. The chicken goes on last and comes off in under an hour. By the time everyone sits down, the hard work is already done.
