Italy is a minefield of foods that'll destroy diets. In the southern town of Matera, this addictive Assassin Spaghetti dish makes use of locally grown killer chilies.
Matera, Basilicata —
Italy is a minefield of foods that'll destroy diets. In the southern town of Matera, this addictive Assassin Spaghetti dish makes use of locally grown killer chilies.
Courtesy La Talpa
Not all Matera's chilies are super-heated. These sun-dried-then-fried giant Crusco peppers are sweet-salty rather than hot. Eat one and you've condemned yourself to eating an entire plateful.
Crusco chilies —
Not all Matera's chilies are super-heated. These sun-dried-then-fried giant Crusco peppers are sweet-salty rather than hot. Eat one and you've condemned yourself to eating an entire plateful.
Courtesy La Talpa
This town on Italy's eastern Trabocchi coast is famous for its restaurants that have been converted from fishing huts.
Vasto, Abruzzo —
This town on Italy's eastern Trabocchi coast is famous for its restaurants that have been converted from fishing huts.
Silvia Marchetti
Vasto's classic dish is brodetto. It's a giant fish meal that requires diners to show self-restraint, lest they fill up before the dish's final coup de grace. That's when angel hair pasta is added.
Brodetto —
Vasto's classic dish is brodetto. It's a giant fish meal that requires diners to show self-restraint, lest they fill up before the dish's final coup de grace. That's when angel hair pasta is added.
Silvia Marchetti
For centuries, Milan's signature panettone cake was only enjoyed at Christmas. Now, gourmet versions made with marron glaces, pine nuts, nuts, apricots, figs, black cherries and pineapple are sold year-round.
Milan —
For centuries, Milan's signature panettone cake was only enjoyed at Christmas. Now, gourmet versions made with marron glaces, pine nuts, nuts, apricots, figs, black cherries and pineapple are sold year-round.
Courtesy TaMilano
This Milanese pastry boutique sells panettones weighing up to 10 kilograms, accompanied by pears and hand-made chocolate.
T'a Milano —
This Milanese pastry boutique sells panettones weighing up to 10 kilograms, accompanied by pears and hand-made chocolate.
Courtesy TaMilano
Just to the north of Naples lies Caserta, said to be home to the best mozzarella in Italy -- and by that logic, the best in the world.
Caserta, Campania —
Just to the north of Naples lies Caserta, said to be home to the best mozzarella in Italy -- and by that logic, the best in the world.
Courtesy Consorzio Mozzarella DOP
Made from a recipe handed down from monks in the 12th century, the cheese can be bought fresh from local dairies. They usually sell out by 10 a.m. each day.
Cheese to go —
Made from a recipe handed down from monks in the 12th century, the cheese can be bought fresh from local dairies. They usually sell out by 10 a.m. each day.
Courtesy Consorzio Mozzarella DOP
It's less popular with tourists than its Umbrian rivals Perugia and Assisi, but unlike its sister towns, Nursia is a pork paradise. Its produce has given rise to Italy's "norcineria" tradition of meat-curing, using methods that originated in the 1300s.
Nursia, Umbria —
It's less popular with tourists than its Umbrian rivals Perugia and Assisi, but unlike its sister towns, Nursia is a pork paradise. Its produce has given rise to Italy's "norcineria" tradition of meat-curing, using methods that originated in the 1300s.
Courtesy Enit
You'll find all sorts of salami, sausages and wild boar hams hanging outside shops and in the middle of medieval piazzas.
Sausage selection —
You'll find all sorts of salami, sausages and wild boar hams hanging outside shops and in the middle of medieval piazzas.
Courtesy Enit
This picturesque medieval town at the foot of Mount Etna is home to some of the world's best granita -- a slushy and ice-cream hybrid that Sicilians call their own.
Randazzo, Sicily —
This picturesque medieval town at the foot of Mount Etna is home to some of the world's best granita -- a slushy and ice-cream hybrid that Sicilians call their own.
Salvatore Farina
In Randazzo, granita is a dense mixture of sugar and water, whisked with pistachio, toasted almonds and seasonal fruit, then served with a brioche bun. It's not even considered a dessert -- it's eaten at lunchtime.
Lunch —
In Randazzo, granita is a dense mixture of sugar and water, whisked with pistachio, toasted almonds and seasonal fruit, then served with a brioche bun. It's not even considered a dessert -- it's eaten at lunchtime.
Salvatore Farina
This quiet Mediterranean island region comes alive in the wintertime, when Cortes Apertas ("Open Courtyards") sees stables and ancient granite-and-turf taverns open to offer crazily good wine, ham and cheese.
Orgosolo, Sardinia —
This quiet Mediterranean island region comes alive in the wintertime, when Cortes Apertas ("Open Courtyards") sees stables and ancient granite-and-turf taverns open to offer crazily good wine, ham and cheese.
Courtesy Regione Sardegna
A gruesome local creation in Orgosolo is "porceddu," a baby pig roasted, dipped in blood, then coated in honey.
Pig in honey —
A gruesome local creation in Orgosolo is "porceddu," a baby pig roasted, dipped in blood, then coated in honey.
Courtesy Regione Sardegna
Once abandoned, this remote Umbrian village has been revived as a hotel dedicated to culinary pleasures. Exquisite meals to rival Michelin-starred restaurants blend into each other as guests are laden with food.
Borgo di Carpiano, Umbria —
Once abandoned, this remote Umbrian village has been revived as a hotel dedicated to culinary pleasures. Exquisite meals to rival Michelin-starred restaurants blend into each other as guests are laden with food.
Silvia Marchetti
Guests of Borgo di Carpiano are served cocktails, wines and digestifs before and after each meal, and it all takes place in a converted crypt.
The crypt —
Guests of Borgo di Carpiano are served cocktails, wines and digestifs before and after each meal, and it all takes place in a converted crypt.
Silvia Marchetti
It may be hot and dusty, but this southern corner of Sicily has earned the nickname Little Switzerland on account of its renowned local chocolate makers.
Modica, Sicily —
It may be hot and dusty, but this southern corner of Sicily has earned the nickname Little Switzerland on account of its renowned local chocolate makers.
Courtesy Caffe dell'Arte
What makes Modica chocolate so special is that it's been made by hand using the same processes invented by the Aztecs. The slightly salty chocolate contains hard sugar that give it bite.
Aztec approved —
What makes Modica chocolate so special is that it's been made by hand using the same processes invented by the Aztecs. The slightly salty chocolate contains hard sugar that give it bite.
Courtesy Caffe dell'Arte
Italy for eaters: 9 destinations that'll destroy your waistline
CNN  — 

Movie legend has it that when Robert De Niro needed to gain about 60 pounds to play an aging Jake LaMotta in “Raging Bull,” he called on a country he knew could help:

Italy.

OK, France also lent a hand, but with its piles of pasta and ice cream, Italy is practically built for elastic waistbands.

While the so-called Mediterranean diet tends to be relatively healthy, some of it’s as calorific as it is tasty. Anyone wanting to visit Italy but stay slim might want to avoid the following nine places:

1. Randazzo, Sicily

And this isn't even the dessert course.
And this isn't even the dessert course.
Salvatore Farina

This picturesque medieval town at the foot of Mount Etna has given birth to a divine cult of granita – a slushy and ice-cream hybrid that Sicilians call their own. The dish traces its origins to Randazzo residents of years past mixing fruit juice with snow from Etna.

Yes, it has its imitators, but Sicilian granita is without equal. This is a dense mixture of sugar and water, mixed with locally grown pistachios, toasted almonds and the best seasonal fruit – mandarin oranges, figs, cactus figs or mulberries. Or, for flavor purists, just lemon or coffee.

Tourists eat it like a sandwich, served inside a brioscia con tuppo – a brioche bun shaped like a ball with a round “hairpiece” on top.

Locals have their own ritual. They use the brioscia as a spoon. And it’s not dessert but lunch. It melts in the mouth quickly, but has lasting aftereffects. After tasting granita, all other gelati will seem inferior.

Pile it on: Musumeci is an artisan pastry shop. Piazza Santa Maria 5 Ransazzi; +39 095 921196

Sleep it off: Shalai Resort is a restyled historical mansion. Via Guglielmo Marconi 25, Linguaglossa; +39 095643128

2. Caserta, Campania

Arrive early to avoid disappointment.
Arrive early to avoid disappointment.

Yes, it’s known as a stronghold of the local Camorra mafia, but Caserta has a much more savory claim to fame. It’s the home of the best mozzarella in Italy – and therefore the world.

This is the real one, made with buffalo – not cow – milk. It’s denser, porcelain white, smooth and bittersweet. Milk oozes out when you bite it. Monks started the tradition in the 12th century and it’s been handed down from generation to generation.

Local stores sell all the different shapes – braids, eggs, small and big balls. The bigger the mozzarella, the tastier. It’s possible to visit dairy factories in the morning, watch the mozzarella-making process and then sample the fresh produce. It’s best to get there early, as by 10 a.m. everything’s been sold.

The town also boasts the “Reggia,” a stunning palace built for the Bourbon Kings of Naples in the 1800s as a banqueting house for lavish parties. A UNESCO-listed site, it could outshine the Palace of Versailles.

Pile it on: Le Colonne; Viale G. Douhet 7, Caserta; +39 0823 467494

Sleep it off: Hotel Amadeus is a cozy old palazzo. Via Giuseppe Verdi 72/76; Caserta; +39 0823 352663

3. Nursia, Umbria

Who wouldn't want to eat a sausage named after a donkey's nether regions?
Who wouldn't want to eat a sausage named after a donkey's nether regions?
Courtesy Enit photoarchive

Nursia, eclipsed by the fame of Perugia and Assisi, is normally missed by tourists. Too bad, because unlike its sister towns, this place does wonderful things with pigs.

All kinds of sausages and wild boar hams hang outside shops and in the middle of medieval piazzas. Strong aromas fill the nostrils: chili pepper and liver sausages with prized black truffle. There are also “donkey balls” – salami or other sausage meat that is shaped to resemble the animal’s nether regions.

These products have given rise to Italy’s “norcineria” tradition of meat-curing, using methods that originated in the 1300s. Addiction to cold cuts is a real risk.

Pile it on/Sleep it off: Palazzo Seneca is a restaurant and hotel offering typical wild boar and deer dishes. Via Cesare Battisti, Nursia, 12; +39 0743 817 434

4. Milan

Not just for Christmas: Pannetone.
Not just for Christmas: Pannetone.
Courtesy RePanettone

It all began as a mistake.

Legend has it that one day Toni, a distracted baker’s boy, dropped eggs, sugar and raisins into some bread dough and made a cake, which was then given his name: Pan de Toni.

Today panettone is one of the symbols of Milan. For centuries it was eaten just at Christmas and was traditionally embossed with a festive cross design. Now it’s become a year-round gourmet delicacy and celebrated pastry cooks are reinventing it with new twists.

Passito wine, marron glaces, pine nuts, nuts, apricots, figs, chestnuts, black cherries, pineapple and tropical fruit have been added to the original raisin, candied citrus peel and butter recipe. Wilder versions have olives, truffles, pepperoni, capers, aubergine and fois gras.

Pile it on: T’a Milano is a pastry boutique selling 500-gram to 10-kilogram panettones, accompanied by hand-made chocolate and pears. Via Clerici 1, Milan; +39 0287386130

Sleep it off: Palazzo Parigi is a stylish hotel overlooking the Duomo. Corso di Porta Nuova 1, Milan; +39 02 625625

5. Borgo di Carpiano, Umbria

Eating and drinking is the top activity in this secluded hamlet.
Eating and drinking is the top activity in this secluded hamlet.
Courtesy Borgo di Carpiano

This former ghost village brought back from the grave and restyled into a boutique resort is so isolated by dense, green forest that there’s nothing to do but eat, drink and eat.

Food here is better than in many Michelin-starred restaurants. Guests practically go from one meal straight to the next.

Breakfast involves plates of ham and cheese, seven different honeys, home-made smoothies, bruschetta and jam pies.

Lunch and dinner have multicourse tasting menus featuring the likes of fried porcini mushrooms in breadcrumbs, duck carpaccio, and twisted scialatielli pasta with pesto and mint.

There’s also Margherita di Burrata – a mix of mozzarella and cream served with fresh tomatoes and basil in a cocktail glass mimicking the green, white and red of the Italian flag.

Dessert o’clock comes three times a day. Guests are served cocktails, wines and digestifs before and after each meal in a converted crypt. An apt place to lay diets to rest.

Pile it on/Sleep it off: Borgo di Carpiano; Localita di Carpiano, 06024 Gubbio, Perugia; +39 075920337

6. Orgosolo, Sardinia

Orgosolo: Land of pork and honey.
Orgosolo: Land of pork and honey.
Courtesy Regione Sardegna

Away from Sardinia’s VIP luxury beaches and shimmering seas is a wild mountain region, once the haunt of bandits but now primarily home to shepherds.

Visitors are rare here. Not in winter though, when Cortes Apertas (“Open Courtyards”) sees stables and ancient granite-and-turf taverns open to the public, offering crazily good wine, ham, cheese and a few other delicacies.

Honey is a way of life here. Top specialties include sweet-sour concoctions with plenty of salt and fat. One gruesome creation is “porceddu,” a baby pig roasted and dipped first in blood, then coated in honey.

Pile it on/Sleep it off: Sa e’ Jana is a family-run hotel restaurant serving specialty dishes; Via Catte 2, Orgosolo; +39 0784 402437

7. Matera, Basilicata

Not so hot: Matera's crusco chili peppers.
Not so hot: Matera's crusco chili peppers.
Courtesy La Talpa

Exploring the rough stone alleys and primitive caves of Matera’s Sassi district burns off calories. But the local chili peppers have a lot of firepower too.

Crusco – a huge red chili that is sun-dried then fried – is special. It’s not spicy but instead has a sweet-salty taste. That’s why no one can quit after eating just one. Local recipes all seem to feature crusco. It’s used in simple appetizers and is the star ingredient of strascinate pasta in fried breadcrumbs or with stockfish and baby tomatoes.

Pile it on: La Talpa makes a hot variant – crispy Assassin Spaghetti fried in olive oil, tomato sauce and killer chili. The plate is covered in blood-red blotches.

Sleep it off: Grotte della Civita features luxury grotto suites suspended above a gorge. Via Civita 28; +39 0835332744

8. Vasto, Abruzzo

If the fish doesn't finish you, the spaghetti will.
If the fish doesn't finish you, the spaghetti will.
Silvia Marchetti

Mealtimes in this Trabocchi coast town of stilted fishing huts converted to restaurants involve a side order of self-restraint.

The local classic dish brodetto involves a ritual that, if not approached with caution, could result in some serious belt-straining. Brodetto is a gigantic fish soup, served as a single main course but is so big it takes two people to finish it.

Ray, mullet, sole, redfish and prawns gaze up from the bubbling pot, swimming in a pool of mezzotempo half-ripe tomatoes, parsley, pepperoni and garlic. The trouble is there’s a lot of bread: grilled slices are dropped in before the eating starts and left to absorb the fishy liquid.

Once all the fish is gone, it’s time to devour the soaked bread. But the trickiest part comes at the very end when thin spaghetti, called capelli d’angelo, or angel hair, is thrown inside the pot and mixed with the remaining sea broth.

There’s no choice but to plow on.

Pile it on: Da Marino makes the best brodetto in town. Via Cavour, Vasto; +39 0873365309

Sleep it off: Hotel Locanda dei Baroni is in a former 17th-century palace. Via S.Francesco D’Assisi 68; +39 0873370737

9. Modica, Sicily

Chocolate with bite: Modica's top delicacy.
Chocolate with bite: Modica's top delicacy.
Courtesy Caffe dell'Arte

It’s too hot for snow-capped mountains, and they’re not famous for timekeeping, so why is this place known as Italy’s little Switzerland?

One word: Chocolate.

Chocolate here is a family passion going back generations. It’s still made using the same technique: by hand and in cold temperatures. The lack of industrial processes – just the same techniques used by the Aztecs – makes it unique.

The Baroque setting, with gargoyles jutting out of elegant palazzos, enhances the experience. The chocolate contains lumps of hard sugar that give it bite. It’s salty, with a rough edge and floury consistency. Locals call it “glass chocolate.”

Pile it on: Caffe dell’Arte is a historical patisserie that makes chocolate variants with pistachio, vanilla, chili pepper, salt, cinnamon and bergamot. C.so Umberto 114, Modica; +39 0932 943257

Sleep it off: Le Magnolie is in an 18th-century villa. Via Campailla 25, Modica; +39 0932752552

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Silvia Marchetti is a Rome-based freelance reporter. She writes about finance, economics, travel and culture for a wide range of media including MNI News, Newsweek and The Guardian.