Italian

When we’re hosting game night and have lots of my husband’s friends coming over, I make this salad. It’s hearty and colorful, and because it holds very well at room temperature, I can make it ahead of time so I can take part in game night, too!

Men sometimes complain that pasta salads aren’t a “real” meal because they’re so light. This one will make a believer out of anyone who has turned his nose up at pasta salad in the past. Meaty eggplant chunks, cannellini beans, plus lots of grilled seafood make this as filling and robust as it is attractive on the plate.

Broken strands of spaghetti are the starch in my family’s version of ribollita, a thick Tuscan soup that is usually made with cubes of stale bread. We always had odds and ends of long pasta on the pantry shelves when I was a child and serving it this way made a hearty meal out of a little bit of pasta.

You can make this kind of soup anytime, using any kind of pasta you like. Small shapes and short noodles are the obvious choices, but my parents often added spaghetti or fettuccine, broken into small pieces so we could still eat it with a spoon. The fettuccine looks a little more elegant, but if all you have on hand is spaghetti, that’s fine; the soup will have a more rustic, homey look.

If you like pasta e fagioli, you’ll love this rib-sticking soup that substitutes garbanzo beans for the usual cannellinis and adds some tomatoes for color and flavor. It happens to be my Aunt Raffy’s favorite soup.

I love the velvety texture of this soup. Although it has four cloves of garlic, it’s not garlicky because they are poached.

Use either fresh or frozen tortellini for this soup, a twist on the traditional tortellini en brodo that is a traditional Christmas dish all over northern Italy. White beans and the pancetta make this one very hearty and even more flavorful.

I make this as a side dish at least three times a week—that’s how much I love spinach, and how much I love it served this way. It’s easy, delicious, and great for you. The secret is the soy sauce; although it’s not Italian, it gives the spinach a fabulous salty kick.

Vin Santo is known as the Wine of Saints, and some of the very best is produced in northern Italy. It’s drunk mostly as a dessert wine (it’s perfect for dipping biscotti), but I also like to use it in vinaigrettes because of its smooth, sweet flavor. It brightens up the asparagus and makes this simple salad more luxurious.

This is the Italian version of blue cheese dressing, and it’s just as rich and decadent as its American counterpart.

Panzanella is a staple of Tuscan cooking that is traditionally made with leftover stale bread; the dressing moistens the bread, which soaks in all the flavors and juices from the vegetables. I like panzanella but I love cornbread. When I found myself with lots of leftover cornbread one Thanksgiving, I was inspired to give it an Italian spin, and this salad was born. It’s best to use stale cornbread, but if you have only fresh cornbread, toast the cubes in the oven at 300°F for 8 to 10 minutes to dry them out; that way they won’t fall apart in the salad and become mushy.

In Naples, fried zucchini is a street food, and it was always my favorite component of Frito Misto (a dish of mixed fried foods) when I was a child. I’ve made it lighter by coating it in the Japanese bread crumbs called panko instead of regular bread crumbs, a method you could use equally well with sweet potato slices, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers—really any vegetable you like.

A scapece means pickled, and the longer the vegetables marinate in the red wine vinegar, the better they taste. My family used to make them in the winter when the veggies weren’t at their peak. These are super versatile; serve them alongside pasta, bread, fish, or meat or as the centerpiece of an antipasto platter.

When I visited St. Louis on my first book tour, I sampled these addictive little cocktail nibbles. They are a perfect addition to an antipasto platter or a fun and easy party appetizer; serve them on a big platter with a small bowl of marinara in the center for dipping.

Think of this bruschetta as a portable salad that doesn’t require utensils or a plate—perfect for entertaining!

Goat cheese is something I like to use in many different ways, and this herb-y mixture is especially versatile. You can toss it with hot pasta for a quick, creamy sauce, or roll it into balls to top a salad, but I probably like these little toasts best of all. They’re so easy to make and they fly off the platter every time I serve them. The recipe can easily be doubled for a party.

Be careful not to overheat the crostini; the cheese and tomatoes should be just warmed through and softened but not melted or falling apart. It’s perfect if you have slightly underripe tomatoes.

In this simple dish that originated in the northeast of Italy, olive oil serves as both a key ingredient and a garnish.

Olive oil cakes are popular in Italy, where they are typically made with orange-flavored liqueurs. This version replaces the alcohol with orange juice (and zest), and calls for brown sugar instead of the more refined granulated variety. Use extra-virgin olive oil if you prefer a more pronounced fruitiness. This cake was made with an 8-by-2-inch round “professional” pan; the batter can also be baked in a standard 9-by-1 1/2-inch cake pan.

This version of pasta salad ditches the mayonnaise-based dressing for a lighter and brighter vinaigrette of flaxseed oil, lemon juice, and vinegar. It also incorporates ample fresh herbs, a variety of vegetables, and kamut pasta—a protein-rich whole-wheat pasta that contains healthy amounts of the antioxidants vitamin E and selenium. Other types of whole-wheat pasta can be used instead. The salad makes a great side for a potluck, but it works as a main course, too.