Italian

Don't skip the green peppers when making these sandwiches. They give just the right balance to the pepper mixture, slightly cutting the sweetness of their red and orange companions.

Mafalde, similar to dried lasagne noodles but not nearly as wide, work well in this dish, as do campanelle, the bellflower-shaped pasta shells. Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 35 min

Insalata Pantasca Insalata pantasca is the potato and tomato salad of Pantelleria, a small, poor island near Sicily, which is famous for its capers. Big, fat capers, full of flavor and packed in salt. Like any local recipe, this has as many variations as there are cooks. The fish that you would find in the Pantelleria salad, however, is something you can't locate in this country. I like sardines in it; you might try something different, such as smoked trout. You wouldn't find yellow-fleshed potatoes on the island, but I love their flavor in this salad. The more traditional choices would be whites, or red-skinned — something on the waxy side.

This hearty soup is served at Belvedere Mansion in Staatsburg, New York.

At Babbo in New York, chef Mario Batali serves this dish with freshly made pappardelle pasta. We've simplified the entrée for the home cook by substituting purchased fettuccine.

"The tagliatelle with parsnips and pancetta at Babbo is a wonder," says Aleksandra Crapanzano of New York, New York. " I would be thrilled to have the recipe." A good substitute for the homemade tagliatelle used at Babbo is dried egg fettuccine or taglierini—we particularly like the Cipriani brand. Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 20 min

Active time: 10 min Start to finish: 10 min

Serve with: Three-bean deli salad spooned over arugula. Dessert: Ice cream bars.

Round out this meatless — but hearty — main course with a big spoonful of deli pasta salad on a bed of arugula, and end with purchased tiramisù topped with berries.

This salad was inspired by a couple of dishes our food editors encountered at restaurants in Rome.