Canned Tomato

A salad, some crusty bread and wine are all that's needed with this hearty pasta dish. For the wine, consider serving a bottle of Chianti or Sangiovese.

Buy an apple tart for dessert.

Ask your butcher to remove the backbones from the racks to make carving easier. If the lamb has not been trimmed, cut off the outer layer of fat and about two inches of the fat between the bones (the bones will be exposed); this technique is called "Frenching." Begin preparing the lamb a day before serving to allow time for marinating.

Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 1 hr

Bonnie Wilkens Metully of Cincinnati, Ohio, writes: "Having two very active teenagers means I've also had to learn how to put together an interesting dinner even on busy nights. I get inspiration from my favorite bedtime reading, an immense collection of cookbooks and food magazines. I also do a quick grocery run every day —usually because I've just read about a dish that I simply must try —but also because having a well-stocked refrigerator is the key to easier cooking."

Borracho means drunk, and it refers to the beer in the cooking liquid. If you're cooking beans and pork roast at the same time, you can use the fatty pieces of pork that you remove while carving to add flavor to the beans. Otherwise, use some bacon.

This recipe works best with ordinary chili powder, which typically includes not only ground dried chiles but other spices as well. Pure chile powder will be too strong.

Using the fresh-tasting canned diced tomatoes eliminates the chopping step. Serve with: Arugula and radicchio salad.

Salsa di Pomodoro d'Emilia Emilia would add a sprig of basil or rosemary or a glass of red wine along with the tomatoes, according to her mood. The sauce always turned out a bit differently, yet it was always delicious.

Sicilian caponata is a salad or side dish composed of several vegetables cooked separately and joined together by a sauce, often of tomato. Serve it as an antipasto or with grilled meat or fish. To keep artichokes from browning as trim them, run a paring knife through a lemon before each cut. The juice on the knife acidulates the surface of the artichoke.

Harira Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 12 1/2 hr

Perfect with mashed potatoes.