Canned Tomato

Italian stews are called spezzatini because the meat is cut into pieces; spezzare means “to cut up” or “break up.” This is the prototypical one-pot meal: Throw all the ingredients into a pot, and you have a great dinner.

It may seem strange to have a dish using couscous (made of semolina flour) in an Italian cookbook, but couscous is actually a staple of Sicilian cooking. Over the centuries, southern Italian—and especially Sicilian—culture has been greatly influenced by North Africa and Greece, and this recipe is a perfect culinary example.

This is another straight-from-the-pantry dish for days when there’s no time to cook. My mother relied on it very heavily when I was growing up, and everyone loved it. The lemon zest wakes up all the flavors and perfumes the dish, but you could use red pepper flakes instead if you don’t have a lemon.

This is an Italian-American favorite, but I like to make my meatballs with turkey instead of the traditional pork, veal, and beef. It’s lighter and healthier, and that way I can eat it more often. Your guests will be so busy eating them that they won’t have time to ask what’s in them (they are that good), especially when they adorn a gigantic family-size platter of spaghetti or linguine.

When we were kids, this was our favorite sauce, hands down. I used to love it on everything—pasta, rice, bread, potatoes, and polenta—you name it, I covered it in bolognese. We went through a lot of it in my household. So my parents had to figure out a way to make it that was quicker than the traditional recipe, and here it is. It’s just as rich and mouthwatering as the more time-consuming traditional recipe; I promise you won’t know the difference. Now that I’m all grown up, I try not to use bolognese for everything, but it’s tempting because it’s perfect as a sauce for any type of pasta shape.

This tasty Italian-American invention (you just won’t find it in Italy) looks like it’s a heavy dish, but the vodka kicks in and heats up the back of your throat to cut through the heavy cream. You can buy it in a jar, but because it’s a cinch to make and very yummy, it’s definitely worth taking the few minutes to make it from scratch. I like to serve it with rigatoni or penne.

This is Rome’s most famous pasta sauce, but the recipe actually originated in a town outside of Rome called Amatrice. This sauce is bold and perfectly balanced with tangy tomatoes, sweet onion, and the salty meatiness of pancetta. My parents would make it for dinner on weeknights when they either didn’t have a lot of time to cook or when my mom hadn’t gone to the grocery store. In the time it takes to boil the water the sauce is finished. Perfect with bucatini, perciatelli, or spaghetti.

A great way to add just a little something extra to my basic marinara sauce.

Here is my version of chicken pot pie, with my twist being the addition of a pizza crust in place of the expected pastry topper. This is the kind of thing you can make for kids or adults: use a slightly larger ramekin for an adult-size serving and serve it with a side salad; or make it in smaller portions for kids and serve with veggie sticks or even French fries.

This is something like a chunky seafood stew, but it’s lighter thanks to a bigger dose of veggies and herbs. You can make this with any fish you like in place of the shrimp.

Once primarily available at farmers’ markets and gourmet groceries, fennel is available in most supermarkets these days (depending on where you live it might be labeled anise). Its mild licorice flavor has a special affinity for pork and for chicken. This dish is very light and clean, with no thickeners or cream to mute the flavors.

Traditionally saltimbocca is made with veal cutlets, rather than chops, but a thicker cut of meat makes for a heartier dish. When you sauté the chops the prosciutto forms a great, salty crust on the outside and the lemon gets caramelized, making a yummy, savory package.

Ground lamb is now very widely available, and it makes a nice change from the usual beef ragù once in a while. This is thick enough to serve in shallow bowls over rice or simply with some nice bread, but you could also increase the amount of marinara sauce to four cups and serve it over pasta.

I love to prepare and serve stuffed peppers because they make such a beautiful presentation; when you cut into them and the delicious filling spills out, it’s like getting a present. My mother is also partial to stuffed peppers, which she fills with vegetables, meat, pasta—almost anything.

This dish is comforting yet elegant, which is why I like to serve it at gatherings during the winter holidays. Best of all, it’s a very quick and easy go-to recipe for when you’re short on time and need to deliver something special.

After tomato, basil, and mozzarella, prosciutto and melon just might be the most classic Italian flavor combination of all time. It gets a whole new lease on life, though, when served as a savory cold soup. The tomato contributes a bit of acidity that tones down the melon’s natural sweetness, and salty prosciutto makes the whole dish sing. If you can’t find canned San Marzano tomatoes, which are a bit sweeter than regular canned plum tomatoes, go for an organic brand such as Muir Glen.

If you love fried calamari, you’ll really like having a new way to serve squid. The soup is thicker than a cioppino but not quite a chowder, and it’s nice and light. My husband, Todd, loves this soup because it’s spicy and the calamari gives it a meaty quality. Don’t add the calamari until right before you’re ready to serve, though, or it will become rubbery.

I made this for an après-ski menu on Everyday Italian. It is quite hearty and the beans give it nice body without making it too thick. The whipped cream garnish is beautiful and becomes even more fragrant as it slowly melts into the soup.