Weeknight Meals

So easy to make, yet simply delectable—if you keep an assortment of good deli olives on hand, supper is only minutes away. (See photo)

The beauty of a dish like this is that you get just enough meat to feel satisfied that you’ve had a substantial meal, but you’ve actually consumed a much greater proportion of healthy greens than of red meat. Plus, it can serve four people on the budget of one steak.

This classic Italian-American dish is a prime example of a versatile preparation—you’ll find Marsala recipes made with veal, pork, chicken, and even steak. Not surprisingly, the key is the Marsala wine, which for centuries has been one of the prized treasures of Sicily. It’s a fortified wine—like Portugal’s port or Spain’s sherry—and can be either sweet, which is the type used for cooking, or dry.

This famous T-bone recipe from Florence is the perfect steak: The outside of the meat caramelizes when it hits the hot grill, and the light garlic aroma and final drizzle of olive oil provide just the flavor elements to make a great piece of meat into a fantastic entrée.

The secret to the intense mushroom flavor in this recipe is that not only are mushrooms themselves part of the mix, but the risotto is cooked with mushroom-flavored broth. In order to use dried porcini mushrooms—or any dried mushrooms for that matter—you have to reconstitute them by allowing them to sit in hot water for a few minutes, absorbing that water and plumping up. Then the mushrooms are ready to cook with, and you have all this flavorful liquid as a by-product. By all means, take advantage of it: Here, it works as a flavor booster to the chicken stock; but you can also use it as the base of a wonderful soup or sauce.

The literal translation of torta di pasta is “cake made of pasta.” What I particularly love about this recipe is that it makes for great finger food: All the ingredients bind together and can be cut up into easy little servings, and it can be served at room temperature. You probably won’t want to tell your guests that you’re serving them leftovers, and they’ll never know the difference.

This is not merely everyday Italian, but Italian food in a flash. This dish would also work with penne, but definitely try to use one of these short tube shapes, which mimic the shape of the asparagus pieces and make for a beautiful presentation; with spaghetti, it’s just not the same.

Wild mushroom ravioli are my very favorites, so I always have a box of them in my freezer. In the time it takes the water to boil and the raviolis to cook—no need to thaw or defrost them—I can make this sauce, and have this great dish on the table in a flash.

In winter, when fresh tomatoes aren’t at their peak of ripeness and flavor, this is a great way to get your tomato fix. Sun-dried tomatoes are a wonder ingredient: They offer the rich, sweet flavors of fresh tomatoes, but they’re available year-round, they have a long pantry life, they don’t take up much room, and they pack a lot of flavor into a small punch. This pesto is a great topping for sautéed or grilled fish, and it’s also wonderful for a picnic because it can be eaten cold or hot. Also perfect over penne.

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.

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.

When I meet with fans I often hear this recipe mentioned as a favorite. People really seem to enjoy the bright combination of flavors in the salsa topping.

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.

Orecchiete are like little spoons that cup the ingredients and ensure you get a little bit of all the flavors in every bite. This is a particularly fast dish to put together.

Todd loves frozen peas and he loves sausage, so this is his kind of recipe, and I created it with him in mind. When you smash the peas, they release their starches into the sauce, making it thick and creamy. To make life a little easier, use a potato masher to smash the peas.

If you’re looking for a healthy pasta dish, you can’t go wrong with this one. The spinach doesn’t really cook, it just gets wilted by the heat of the warm pasta. When I eat this I feel I’ve both indulged a craving for pasta and treated myself to something especially healthful and nutritious!

Use a sweet, ripe (but not overripe) pear such as Bosc or Anjou; if it’s not ripe enough, the flavor won’t marry with the cheese. Taleggio is a mild, creamy Italian cheese; if you can’t find it, Brie is a perfectly fine substitute.