Canned Tomato

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 20 min

This soup hails from Morocco.

Meat loaf has been a favorite throughout the century, especially during the 1940s when meat was rationed and ground beef was a bargain cut. We’ve put a contemporary stamp on this suppertime classic by adding lots of caramelized onions.

Meatless pasta loaded with bold flavors.

"I've always loved to cook," writes Mary Gareffa of East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, "and though at eighty-nine I'm slowing down, I still love it. My grandfather and my father were both cooks in a monastery in Reggio Calabria, Italy, before they moved to this country, and luckily for me, my father was my cooking teacher. He showed me how to make the tomato-and-sausage sauce for the pasta. When my son was young, he used to tease me for standing over the pot of sauce, stirring and simmering it slowly, but that's the way my father showed me. A sauce is like a baby; you have to be gentle with it. And I know I must be doing something right, because my grandson, Jason, called me just last week to get the recipe." Tender meatballs — bound with bread softened in milk — in a good old-fashioned Tomato-Sausage sauce.

Tostadas caseras — corn tortillas that have been seasoned and fried — can be found with the tortillas in most supermarkets. The soup can be made one day before serving.

An adaptation of a classic Northern Italian dish, spezzatini di pollo al pomodoro e vino bianco (chicken sautéed with tomato and white wine). Serve sautéed broccoli rabe and a crusty ciabatta alongside. What to drink: Barbera or Italian Chardonnay.

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr

Huachinango a la Veracruzana In a traditional Veracruzan household, you would find papas cambray (roasted tiny white potatoes) and a bowl of savory white rice served alongside.

"For me, cooking is a very relaxing and creative process — I just wish I had more time for it," writes Katherine Burk of Seattle, Washington. "I make a point of fixing dinner during the week, but with my hectic schedule (I work in information technology), there are some nights I'm too wiped out to attempt anything more complicated than a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Usually, though, I can put something together in under thirty minutes." A fast, colorful, and delicious pasta dish loaded with goodies.

To bring out the best in this dish, buy or order the finest cheeses from a cheese shop or Italian deli: fresh ricotta, mild imported provolone, and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

"I used to go to central New Jersey frequently on business and always made time to stop at Eccoqui, an Italian restaurant in Bernardsville," writes Bobbi Reed of Denver, Colorado. "Since I no longer travel to that area, I miss the restaurant — and especially the pappardelle con salsiccia." Try any of your favorite pasta shapes with this sauce. Pappardelle or mafaldine — broad, flat noodles with rippled edges — work particularly well.

This is a Cuban version of picadillo, a sweet-and-sour meat stew that is popular in many Spanish-speaking countries. Serve with: Sweet potato chips, and carrot and celery sticks with blue cheese dipping sauce.

If an herbes de Provence blend isn't available, use a combination of dried thyme, basil, savory, and fennel seeds. Dried porcini can be found at Italian markets, specialty foods stores, and many supermarkets.

Gouvej Claire S. Kedeshian of New York, New York, writes: "I am Armenian-American, and I would love to share a recipe of mine with you and your readers. It's for a traditional vegetable stew that has been made by my family for over three generations."

If you love spaghetti and meatballs, then you'll love this upmarket rendition featuring perciatelli-long, hollow pasta. The noodles are topped with a rich tomato and porcini mushroom sauce, and meatballs made with ground veal, Italian sausage and more porcini. Start things off with an antipasto platter of olive, assorted marinated vegetables and cured meats. Offer breadsticks alongside, and pour a full-bodied Chianti.

I'm not sure if shrimp is so popular because of its versatility or if it's the other way around. In any event, shrimp is one of America's favorite seafoods, so I was a bit surprised not to find a tradition of shrimp chowder anywhere in this country. The lion's share of chowders orignated in New England, but shrimp are only caught here in the winter, up in Maine. "Maine" shrimp (Borealus red shrimp) are small and delicate. They are good in a quick-cooked stew or pureed in a rich bisque, but they become very soft in the extended cooking time involved in making a chowder. In the Southern states, along the East Coast and the Gulf Coast, big white shrimp are abundant, but they are traditionally cooked in gumbos and "muddles" (seafood stews). And I found no trace of an authentic shrimp chowder on the West Coast. So, starting with a clean slate, I was able to create a chowder that expressed what I think a shrimp chowder should be. The is a lovely creamy pink chowder with delicious fennel flavor.

To make this a vegetarian chili, use an additional eight ounces of lentils instead of the pound of ground beef.

Start making this at least one day ahead.