I was born and raised in Italy. Here are 7 Italian-American foods you won't find there.

Breaded chicken that's tender on the inside and perfectly crispy on the outside, flavor-packed tomato sauce, melted mozzarella, or provolone cheese — this is the definition of comfort food.

According to the Los Angeles Times, chicken Parmesan is said to have roots in the US. So perhaps it's not surprising it doesn't exist as-is in Italy. Instead, you can find its components in two separate dishes.

One is parmigiana di melanzane, which features eggplant pan-fried in oil, layered with tomato sauce and cheese, and baked in an oven.

The other is cotoletta, a breaded veal (and sometimes chicken) cutlet fried in oil or butter.

Spaghetti and meatballs, a dish that usually features meatballs more than one inch in diameter, is quintessentially Italian-American.

That said, you can find similar dishes in southern Italy that feature egg-based pasta and small meatballs.

So, how did this dish transform into the classic Italian-American dish we think of today? According to Smithsonian magazine, larger meatballs are a result of Italians having more money to spend on food when they immigrated to the US.

Bigger meatballs do exist in Italy but are usually served as appetizers or, more commonly, as a type of comfort food on their own.

I had them many times as a child and as a teen, either in a lemon or tomato-based sauce. In fact, meatballs are a classic "grandma" recipe.

In the US, fettuccine Alfredo comes with heaps of butter, heavy cream, garlic, cheese, and sometimes chicken or shrimp as add-ons.

However, the version that exists in Italy is a little different from what most are used to seeing at Italian-American restaurants.

Fettuccine Alfredo was made famous by chef Alfredo Di Lelio in the early 1900s. At the time, his recipe consisted of pasta, butter, and non-aged Parmesan.

When the recipe made its way to America, chefs had to make due with the ingredients they had available. Many added cream, creating the dish most Americans think of today.

To make a more authentic version of this dish, ditch the heavy cream, chicken, and garlic, and invest in good Parmesan, butter, and egg pasta.

One of the most poignant culinary moments in "The Sopranos" shows Tony, an Italian-American, eating Carmela's decadent baked ziti. This is juxtaposed with Furio, an Italian, preparing a simple pasta all'aglio e olio.

Baked ziti is an Italian-American staple layered with tomato sauce, ricotta cheese, mozzarella, and Parmesan.

If you're craving something like baked ziti when you go to Italy, look for pasta al forno, a casserole dish usually consisting of pasta, a meat-based sauce, and an element of dairy.

Rainbow cookies consist of three layers of almond-based sponge cake interspersed with apricot jam and topped with a chocolate coating.

According to The Daily Meal, the cookies are actually said to have been invented by Italian-American immigrants in the late 1800s or early 1900s.

No comparable cookie exists in Italy, but it does bear some similarities to gelato di Campagna. This tri-color nougat-based dessert looks like ice cream but doesn't require refrigeration.

Whether you call them Italian subs, heroes, or hoagies, you'll hardly find these sandwiches in Italy. But legend has it that many of these names originated from Italian immigrants living in the US.

However, unlike the traditional "Italian sub" found in America, the Italian panino rarely features cheese, meats, lettuce, pickles, and condiments at the same time.

And if they do, these sandwiches won't come in foot-long bread rolls. Instead, the Italian panino is typically 8 inches long at the most and features melted cheese.

My go-to panino order is a broccoli rabe, sausage, and mozzarella sub.