Italian

Think of this as "panzanella verde." There's a lightness here and an herby earthiness that make this the kind of salad you really want on the hottest of summer days.

Editor's note: The recipe below is from Perfect Parties by Linnea Johansson.

You'll be amazed that anything this simple could taste so good, not to mention that all this garlic—yes, two heads, not two cloves—can produce such a seasoned, mellow taste.

A zeppola is an Italian fritter. The dough is similar to choux pastry, which is used to form cream puffs, éclairs, and gougères.

Pizza bianca (white pizza) is a Roman dish that's more like seasoned flatbread than your typical pizza. It's great with the salumi and cheese.

This is a traditional Tuscan method—bricks weigh down the butterflied chicken, resulting in even, quick cooking and crispy skin (you'll need two bricks for this recipe; wrap them in foil). If you don't have bricks, a cast-iron skillet will do the trick. Ask your butcher to butterfly the chicken for you.

For the moistest, most intense mostaccioli imaginable, Miraglia Eriquez increased the cocoa, hazelnuts, and spices. And these little frosted cookies only get better with age, so feel free to bake them up to four days ahead of when you plan to serve them.

In a twist on the classic Italian combination of peaches and Amaretto, Ferrigno pairs fresh apricots with a seriously over-the-top syrup, made with amaretti and the liqueur, that plays up the complexity of the sweet-and-tart fruit.

For this pasta dough, we used a mixture of cake and all-purpose flours. It's too delicate when you're making noodles, but it's great for filled, double-edged pastas like ravioli.

This is a soup that really benefits from homemade stock.

Torta di Cioccolata al Forno con Vaniglia e Noccio For this sophisticated cake, which will thrill any fan of bittersweet chocolate, Ferrigno took inspiration from a favorite Perugian café called Bar Sandri—Perugia being, as she puts it, the "firm historical chocolate capital" of Italy. And inspiration was all she could take: She requested the recipe from the chef several times, but he wouldn't divulge it. Desperate, she played around with the ingredients until she came up with something that tasted right.

"What grows together, goes together" is a concept that often holds true, but disparate denizens of the garden sometimes need coaxing to harmonize. Ferrigno sets about the task with wise restraint—just a little butter, shallot, and fresh basil turns asparagus and peas into the best of friends.

Simmering a pork roast with milk and a generous handful of herbs results in very tender meat with rich, silky juices. Many Italians will leave the milk curds that form alongside the meat where they are, but Ferrigno strains them out for a more refined sauce.

This unorthodox panino—you work in reverse, griddling the bread first, then layering it with prosciutto, Fontina, and arugula before baking—results in a warm, gooey flatbread with a crunchy crust.

Olive oil is a perfect (and extra-flavorful) nondairy alternative to butter for these tuiles, which defy logic by being both gossamer (potato starch gives them a melt-in-your-mouth quality) and sublimely crisp.

Pasta made with matzo cake meal is extremely light in texture and is no fuss to prepare when it's rolled and cut by hand into thin strips. The vegetables, in shades of green, provide a range of spring color.

A bit more decadent, and dare we say subtle, than standard limoncello, this smooth, rich "cream" version (though made with only 1 % milk) will wow your guests every time.

The addition of the sweet vermouth here punctuates the natural sweetness of the canned tomatoes, making this quick sauce taste as if it's been simmered for hours.