Italian dish found a little way into the dictionary? (5)
I believe the answer is:
pasta
'italian dish' is the definition.
(type of Italian food)
'a little way into the dictionary?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'a' is within the answer.
'way' could be 'st' (abbreviation for street) and 'st' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'pa' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'found' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for pasta that I've seen before include "Dried flour paste for making Italian food" , "Shaped and dried dough" , "Staple food of Italian origin" , "Dish of dough made with durum wheat" , "dish high in carbohydrates" .)