Quick

Salumi refers to all dry-cured Italian-style meats and sausages. Great chefs such as Tom Colicchio, Lidia Bastianich, Mario Batali, and Paul Bertolli are introducing them to a new generation of Americans, who may not realize what an incredible variety is available. Thanks to these chefs for bringing this artisan tradition back to the culinary fore. What an inspiration! One summer when I traveled in Italy, I was served salumi with peaches just about everywhere I went and although it was a combination I had never before tried, it made perfect and delicious sense and stayed with me after I returned to Chicago.

Bucatini is a long, hollow pasta, like very thick spaghetti with a hole running through it. Because it is so hearty, its sauce needs rich ingredients to stand up to it. The basil, sun-dried tomatoes, and black olive tapenade form a flavor-packed, thick sauce that begs to coat the thick, toothsome strands of bucatini. With only five ingredients in this entire recipe, you won't be surprised at how effortless and speedy it is. Cooking the pasta is the only thing that takes any time.

My editor, Peter Gethers, insisted on only one thing when he asked me to write this book: that I include the recipe for these pancakes. The ricotta causes them to burn more easily than other pancakes, so you need to cook them over medium-low to medium heat. If there are any pancakes that don't need maple syrup, these are them.

For a long time it seemed to me that there was more than a superficial resemblance between the white Indian cheese called paneer and tofu. When I finally made the classic Indian dish of spinach and paneer using tofu, it tasted amazingly at home in the cumin, ginger, and chile-laced sauce. There's a little going back and forth between the skillet and a food processor, but this is an easy dish to make. I serve it over rice with a sprinkling of toasted black sesame seeds.

Serve with pita toasts or crackers, or smear it on grilled chicken breast or tuna steaks for a main course.

This quick soup, an American classic, makes a fine pairing with a grilled cheese sandwich or crisp romaine salad. Here the grilled cheese sandwich takes a different form—a souffléed Cheddar topping on a good piece of toasted sandwich bread. Use an organic brand of tomatoes, one that's thick with puree as well as chunks of tomato.

This is a take on pasta e fagiole, the classic Tuscan bean and pasta soup, but without the pasta. Where the homemade version is thickened as a result of the beans being cooked for hours, I created a rich, creamy base by puréeing some of the beans. I felt the soup needed a fresh vegetable, so I used Napa cabbage because it cooks very quickly and adds a slightly sweet flavor. Finally, I added fresh herbs and then topped the soup with prosciutto, olive oil, and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Posole is a hearty soup from the Jalisco region of Mexico that is traditionally made with pork and hominy. Hominy is dried corn kernels from which the hulls and germs have been removed. (In its ground form hominy is called grits.) Dried hominy takes several hours to cook, so I have opted for the canned version in the interest of time. I have also developed a lighter version with shredded chicken and tomatillo salsa (hence green posole). This dish is ridiculously easy to make and quite satisfying with all the additional garnishes. Serve with Southwestern Sweet Potato Saute.

Life without pasta? Perish the thought. It's not a French thing per se, potatoes being the more ubiquitous starch of choice. But in Alsace, noodles are served with lots of dishes, from fish to game, mostly with heavy sauces somewhat like those from the Piedmont region of Italy. We had pasta a few times a month when I was a kid, but we tended to favor the lighter, more intensely flavored preparations, like this cream-and-lemon combination Tante Caroline developed. She considered it a perfect lunch staple accompanied by a salad and piece of fruit. Her daughter, Louise, tells me it's still very popular with all the kids. Pay attention to the portions!

Green beans and Brussels sprouts might seem like the Abbott and Costello of the vegetable world—lanky and straight versus roly-poly—but like so many odd couples, they go together beautifully. The key is to sautéthe vegetables so that they still have a little bite.

Here triangles of tofu are panfried, simmered briefly in half the nut butter sauce, and garnished with slivered scallion and sesame seeds. The rest of the sauce can be spooned over brown rice, noodles, or whatever you choose as an accompaniment. If possible, present the tofu in the pan that it's cooked in.

I named this for Lloyd Kramer, a regular customer and a onetime pretty famous reporter, now director, who's from a suburb outside Boston called Marblehead. Lloyd is on a healthy diet now, but before that, when he ordered what he wanted, this is what he ate. It has a ton of cheese in it. The frozen corn cools down the eggs, allowing me to cook them over a higher fire than I normally cook scrambled eggs and still have really creamy eggs.

One of our most popular appetizers, bluefish pâté has been on the menu for many years. We serve it with Kalamata olives and commercial pickled cipollinis (bulbs of grape hyacinths that taste like pickled onions). Pickled onions are a fine substitute.

Yes, the paper-thin disks of raw beet will spill their pink color across the escarole and frisée dressed with a lusty vinaigrette, but don't fret—those splashes are part of this simple salad's charm.

This name came from a Frank Zappa song called "Jewish Princess" where he says: "I want a dainty little Jewish princess with a couple of sisters who can raise a few blisters." I decided to make something called Blisters on My Sisters, and when I went to the kitchen to make it, this is what I came up with. I make the rice and beans mixture in a bowl because all my ingredients are hot all the time, but since you are probably starting with cold ingredients, I gave you directions for mixing the ingredients together over heat.

When you combine powdered chiles with cumin and other ingredients to make a spice mix for chili con carne, you are turning chile powder into chili powder.

This dish is particularly delicious in summer, when zucchini, peppers, and summer squash are farm-fresh. You can also pile the grilled vegetables onto crusty French bread that's been slathered in creamy chevre. Or make hors d'oeuvres by topping Crostini with slices of grilled vegetable and some crumbled chevre. The vegetables can be grilled up to 1 hour in advance; assemble just before serving.