Tomato

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.

I always think of dishes made with small pasta shapes like orzo as kid food because they are easy to scoop up with a spoon—no twirling required! This is an all-around crowd-pleaser that seems to satisfy kids of all ages. It’s also quite adaptable; if your kids don’t like peppers, leave them out and add more tomatoes. Skip the hot peppers if you don’t want it too spicy; and feel free to use any kind of sausage your family enjoys.

If you love caprese salad but want a meal, this will make you very happy. The hot pasta melts the cheese slightly and makes the garlic and basil smell amazing. I can tell you that in my experience most kids love this.

This is a perfect dish for parents and kids to make together. Let the little ones roll the meat mixture into tiny balls while you sauté each batch and do the knife work. At the end everyone can help stir the pasta, meatballs, and cheese and tomatoes together.

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.

If you’ve cut back on burgers because you don’t want to eat the bun, here’s your solution. These well-seasoned patties get wrapped in a piece of prosciutto, making them extra juicy. Use your hands to combine the meat mixture; you are less likely to overmix this way.

When you roast tomatoes along with beef it gives the dish a slightly acidic edge that cuts the rich, unctuous quality of the meat. The softened tomatoes go straight into the food processor with some vinegar and parsley for a sauce that is both lighter and tangier than the typical brown gravy. Serve with buttered egg noodles.

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.

Roasting brings out the best flavors in fall vegetables, and it’s a super-easy way to cook them, as well: just cut them into cubes and let the oven do the rest. Once puréed they become a warm, mellow sauce that collects in the tubular pasta, so that when you bite one the flavors explode in your mouth.

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.

If you find regular lasagna with a tomato sauce too heavy for summer meals, this is a great alternative, and it’s a real stunner on the plate. A sun-dried tomato pesto is layered between the pasta and vegetables, adding a bit of sweetness to the dish.

Pastina refers to any tiny pasta shape, whether it’s stars, little squares, tiny shells, or riso. When you boil the pasta, undercook it just a tiny bit so it can cook together with the mussels and the clams for a few minutes, absorbing all that delicious liquid without getting mushy. In that way it’s almost like a risotto, but much easier to make.

Use this recipe as a guideline and a suggestion, as you could really serve any odds and ends you find in the vegetable bin with this versatile vinaigrette. Think about adding broccoli florets, green beans, or summer squash, just to name a few.

Midway between an antipasto plate and a salad, this is typical of the kind of salads you’ll find in Rome, which rarely feature a lot of lettuce. Don’t be put off by the anchovies; they are chopped fine and contribute a big kick of flavor and saltiness. Serve it along with a plate of sliced deli meats for a picnic or fall lunch.

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.