Italian

This dish requires a little effort ahead of time but finishes quick and easy, making it perfect for a casual weeknight dinner. It’s an adaptation of saltimbocca (Italian for “jump in your mouth”), traditionally made with thin slices of veal sautéed with prosciutto and sage. Since veal can be a little harder to find, and pricier, I use a less expensive cut of meat and splurge on an embellishment: a genuine Fontina Val d’Aosta, from the Piedmont region in Italy. This combination will literally jump in your mouth! I recommend serving it with tender asparagus.

Here’s another dish that works for the kids as well as my husband and me. I dish theirs up plain (with ketchup on the side) and then make a quick little pan sauce for us. At your grocery store, you can find the turkey tenderloin already cut into slices, but for a little less you can get them whole and slice them yourself—it’s easy! Pasta is the perfect companion for the crispy turkey, which makes us all happy.

This no-fuss dessert lives up to its name—there’s no cooking involved other than boiling water.

Baking pasta with cheese on top creates a chewy and crispy topping kids will love. You can assemble the dish ahead and refrigerate it, then bake it right before dinner.

Rather than eliminating yolks altogether, we used fewer—to reduce fat and to avoid the rubbery texture that can be obtained by using only egg whites.

The combination of fennel, citrus, and parsley makes this Italian-style salad an ideal palate cleanser. It tastes particularly refreshing in winter, when salad greens are often scarce.

Here is a meaty tomato sauce that doesn’t need to cook for a long time to be flavorful. And the sauce keeps well in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Freshly roasted peppers impart a smoky taste to this hearty pasta. If you like, you can use jarred peppers, thinly sliced, instead of making your own, and skip step one.

The combination of pesto, potatoes, and green beans originates in Liguria, a region of Italy. It’s best made at the height of summer, when fresh basil is readily available, but you can make it any time of year with store-bought pesto.

Elegant enough for a dinner party but simple enough to prepare any night of the week, this pasta dish makes good use of quick-cooking shrimp and two types of tomatoes.

Basting the chicken with lemon juice while it’s on the grill gives it a tangy taste. For the marinade, steeping the rosemary in hot water intensifies the flavor of the herb.

Croutons can be made 3 days ahead and stored in a resealable plastic bag, at room temperature. Chicken can be cooked and stored, covered, overnight in the refrigerator. Bring the chicken and dressing to room temperature before serving.

When you find yourself with day-old bread, make this Tuscan salad, known as panzanella. Coarse-textured, good-quality bread works best. Feel free to improvise by adding olives, anchovies, or canned tuna.

In Italy, prosciutto and melon are combined in a traditional first course. Here, cool, silky bocconcini and torn mint leaves are added to make a refreshing salad—just the thing to begin a meal on a warm summer night.

In this one-pot dish the spinach cooks alongside the pasta. Spoon ricotta and pine nuts onto each serving, and let your guests mix them into the pasta themselves.

Take a break from ordinary tomato sauce with this crowd-pleasing pasta dish. Leaf-Lettuce Salad with Parmesan Crisps (page 27) makes a perfect starter.

Rich and creamy, risotto is Italian-style comfort food. If you like, replace the wine with an equal amount of broth. Arborio rice makes the creamiest risotto, but you can substitute medium-or long-grain white rice.