Italian

Making the panna cotta in a cake pan gives this classic dessert a new look. For best results, use an organic plain yogurt (which usually has a softer texture than nonorganic).

Olivada, an Italian olive spread, adds flavor and color to this side dish.

Great with the Caveman Porterhouse or with chicken, fish, or lamb.

Marinated eggplant makes a great antipasto, alone or as part of a larger spread. It also works as an accompaniment to grilled meat and fish. However you serve it, I strongly suggest you make sure to save enough for a sandwich. Country bread with grilled marinated eggplant, prosciutto, and mozzarella—really, really good.

Panna cotta is an Italian custard dessert. It's similar to pudding but is thickened with gelatin instead of egg yolks. This version is a velvety almond custard topped with fresh cherries and a candied almond garnish.

Layers of homemade mixed herb pesto lend a fresh brightness to this vegetarian main.

What makes this beautiful appetizer even more attractive? Both of the salsas and the toasted baguette slices can be prepared one day ahead.

Making your own coarse fresh breadcrumbs takes just a minute; see "Test-Kitchen Tip" at the end of the recipe for the how-to.

See "Ingredient Tip" for information on buying pizza dough.

If the polenta is ready before the rest of the meal, keep it in the pan and press parchment or waxed paper directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming; partially covering the pan with the lid will also work. Stir well before serving.

This is a different sort of frittata, not the neat golden round of well-set eggs that’s probably most familiar. Here the eggs are in the skillet for barely a minute, just long enough to gather in soft, loose folds, filled with morsels of asparagus and shreds of prosciutto. In fact, when I make this frittata or the “dragged” eggs—uova strapazzate, page 143—I leave my eggs still wet and glistening so I can mop up the plate with a crust of country bread. That’s the best part of all.

Sweet crabmeat and sweet peas make a great match in this springlike risotto.

This recipe is a lifer. I’ve been making it for more than 20 years, and every time I try to file it away, someone inevitably comes along asking for it. I brought it to my first staff get-together when I was working at Chez Panisse and, from then on, for all of the parties that followed, when I would even think of making something different, my friends and coworkers would cry out for this caramelized chocolate bread pudding. A few years later, the bread pudding gained an East Coast fan club, too. I was working at Alloro, a tiny restaurant in Boston’s Italian district. Back then, the Mafia owned all the local cafés and had a monopoly on the dessert-and-coffee crowd. Whereas the other (probably wiser) restaurants on the street obeyed the unspoken law of not selling dessert, at Alloro we broke the rule and secretly served this bread pudding to our in-the-know customers. We worked hard to keep the highly requested dessert under cover, and it seems we succeeded: both the recipe and I are still around. A few things make this bread pudding better than most. I love custards and am often disappointed by bread puddings with too much bread and not enough pudding. So be careful to use just a single layer of brioche, which creates a crispy crust but won’t absorb all the rich, silky custard underneath. Once you break through the caramelized, toasty top layer and dig down through the luscious custard, a treasure of melted chocolate awaits you at the bottom.

Donatella still remembers the lure of these addictive sweets. "I always got in trouble with my aunt because I would sneak into the kitchen and steal them," she says. Frying the dough in extra-virgin olive oil adds an authentic flavor. You'll need about five cups of oil for frying.

For Donatella, fava beans were an acquired taste. "When I was a child, I hated them," she says. She’s come around to the hearty, healthy bean and has always been a fan of dandelion greens, an ingredient that many Italians believe calms the stomach. Timing note: The favas need to soak overnight.

The croutons found their way into this dish thanks to the frugality of Italian cooks. "Puglians don't throw anything out," says Donatella. "Any leftover bread is used in the pasta."

Pancetta (Italian bacon) is available in the deli section of many markets.