Easy

The whole idea behind this dish is that it is made from leftovers you find in the refrigerator. This happens to be one of my favorite combinations, but use whatever kind of cheese you find in the bin, and substitute any veggies you have on hand for the asparagus. It’s so good that I often make it for a quick dinner when I haven’t had a chance to get to the market.

I love the intensely sweet, chewy flavor of sun-dried tomatoes, and mixed with tomato paste they create a sauce with a very concentrated flavor that doesn’t require the long cooking of a traditional tomato sauce. Softened with a bit of goat cheese, this is a creamy sauce that just barely coats the pasta without weighing it down.

You’ll find many recipes for swordfish in Sicily, where it is plentiful, often combined with citrus to give the meaty fish a bit of pizzazz. Here the citrus flavors come from the pesto; it’s great over grilled chicken or a steak, too.

Somewhat reminiscent of a puttanesca sauce, but with the addition of olives and lots of vegetables, this is a homey dish that you would find in many Roman kitchens. Long, slow simmering is what makes the sauce so delicious, so if you like, make a double batch and freeze some to use next time you bake fish or chicken, or make a baked pasta dish.

Meyer lemons are sweeter than regular lemons and, unfortunately, are in season for only a short time each year. Since they are hard to find, I’ve fallen in love with Meyer lemon olive oil, which captures their flavor very well and adds both citrus tang and a hint of sweetness to all kinds of recipes. Because this is such a simple dish—the sauce is just onions, the oil, and fresh marjoram—do try to get your hands on some Meyer lemon olive oil; I use the one made by DaVero. If you can’t find it, though, you can use the citrus oil on page 226.

Many Sicilian dishes feature swordfish, since it is very plentiful in the waters surrounding the island. Eggplant is also found in many dishes from this area, but I prefer the texture and taste of Japanese eggplants over the larger ones because their seeds are so tiny; there is also no need to salt the cubed eggplant because they aren’t as bitter as the fully mature ones can be.

For this dish, be sure to use the vacuum-packed type of gnocchi, not those that come hard and dry in a box, as they are full of preservatives. You can also buy fresh gnocchi at many specialty food shops, or even make your own (see page 109), though that’s not really necessary for this dish. It’s a little spin on the basic gnocchi dish that’s also a really colorful meal-in-one, packed with spinach and cheese.

What began as a simple side dish with a citrusy dressing became a light but appealing entrée with the addition of quickly sautéed shrimp. This can be served warm, but it’s also nice at room temperature, making it a good option for picnics or buffet spreads.

Simple, simple, simple, but so good—this is truly one of the fastest dishes you can make, and one of the best.

I’ve made this with lots of different pasta shapes—little stars, tiny elbows, ditalini, tiny wagon wheels—so use whichever you like or have on hand. In a pinch, you can even break a handful of spaghetti into small pieces if you don’t have any short-cut pasta on the shelf. It’s a perfect portable dish, a nice choice if you want to make something to take to a party or a new neighbor.

I happen to love gnocchi; they’re like little pillows in your mouth, and very, very comforting. Although you can get them at any grocery store these days, when I have some time, I still enjoy making them at home.

Todd and I both love stuffed shells, so I’m always thinking of fun new fillings to try. This one is a real home run. The first time I made it I used leftover dark meat from our Thanksgiving turkey and chopped it fine, but we liked it so much that I’ve adapted the recipe for ground raw turkey. Now we can have it any night of the year! We like it with the slightly spicy arrabbiata sauce, because turkey can be a bit on the bland side (especially if you can only get ground white-meat turkey), but if you want to use your favorite jarred marinara sauce instead, it’s still a great dish.

The assertive flavor of Gorgonzola cheese gives the sauce for this dish a nice, sharp bite. This combination of flavors is very typical of northern Italian food, and it makes for a particularly earthy, satisfying dish. You can have fun with this recipe, varying the kinds of mushrooms you use; try to incorporate a few varieties. The frozen peas add a welcome pop of color.

Although it’s not a true-blue, all-American macaroni and cheese because it’s made with wide egg noodles rather than the more traditional elbow macaroni or small shell pasta, this is probably the version I make most often. It’s a dish I fell in love with when I first had it years ago at Harry’s Bar in Venice. Later I re-created it at home as the ultimate comfort food and also to bring back memories of Venice.

I rely on this dish whenever I’m hosting a ladies’ lunch or wedding shower, or when I just want something tasty and healthy in the refrigerator to snack on. The trick here is using a purchased, roasted whole chicken. It’s important to use a whole chicken because it stays moister and more tender than precooked breasts.

Couscous is technically a pasta made from semolina, though many people consider it a grain. In southern Italy it is used often, a lasting memento of the Arabs that invaded Sicily in the ninth century. I particularly appreciate the way it cooks so quickly. This is a perfect side dish for large-scale entertaining because it doubles or even triples beautifully.

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!

Among the many virtues of this salad is that it can be made ahead very successfully and it also looks so attractive.

Salade Niçoise meets all-American pasta salad in this all-in-one dish that’s perfect for a picnic or dinner on a hot summer night. The trick is to use the Italian canned tuna; the flavor of water-packed albacore tuna is just not comparable.

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.