European

A popular salad on the island of Pantelleria.

Great to give as gifts in pretty boxes or tins or to have on hand for unexpected company.

What to drink: Sangiovese wines are a classic pairing with robust pasta dishes. Try the Cantina di Montalcino 1999 Poggio del Sasso, a good-value Super Tuscan.

Spinach and Feta Phyllo Triangles

Panforte — a cross between a cake and a candy — is a classic Italian Christmas treat. It's a very dense, rich confection loaded with nuts, dried fruit, and spices (hence its name, which means "strong bread"). This recipe yields much more than you'll need for the party, but it keeps so well that you'll have delicious leftovers long after the holiday season. Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 4 hr (includes cooling)

Elisa Mazzaferro-Rosenberg of Fort Collins, Colorado, writes: "I love to entertain, but between coming home late — I just completed my Ph.D. in small animal clinical sciences — and feeding my husband, Adam, and myself plus our little family of five cats and two dogs, I haven't had the time to have friends over much."

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 25 min

When you're cooking with veggies, don't overlook dessert! This cake has great texture, thanks to both pureed and grated carrots. It's delicious with or without frosting and great for parties.

Here's a hearty and satisfying pasta that makes an easy entrée for a dinner party.

Once the ingredients have been combined for this dish, use immediately. Serve the potato pancakes while crisp. These pancakes were developed at Dublin's Gresham Hotel and were featured on the "Bird Flanagan" bar menu. The "Bird" Flanagan was a celebrated Dublin character who once rode his horse into the lobby bar of Dublin's famous Gresham Hotel and requested a drink for his horse.

Adapted from L'Ardoise Serve this play on the classic escargots à la bourguignonne with lots of crusty bread to mop up the flavorful butter. The snails come in 7-ounce cans, so you'll have leftovers. You might want to consider making escargots à la Bourguignonne with the leftover snails.

It doesn’t look or taste like it, but this pizza is low-fat. Each slice has just 346 calories and 4 1/2 grams of fat.

Zucchini gives a summery twist to the classic leek-and-potato soup; this new take on an old favorite is served at Quisiana.