Mushroom

Creamy mascarpone cheese and pureed roasted pumpkin are blended with just a delicious touch of cinnamon to make an interesting sauce for the fettuccine starter. Uncork a Dolcetto.

Add the grated peel from half an orange to the dressing if you want a more intense orange flavor in the salad.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. The mushroom caps are the pizza "crusts." Chopped pepperoni, onions, olives or bell peppers also make great toppings.

A mixture of cottage cheese, lowfat yogurt and lemon juice replaces the sour cream in the traditional version of this dish. Ground turkey makes an especially good choice for those watching their cholesterol intake.

Offer with your favorite tossed green salad and some crusty bread.

"Once a week, I go to the farmers' market in Santa Monica and purchase fresh produce, including a variety of wild mushrooms," say Vilma Rozansky of Los Angeles, California. "I developed this risotto recipe around their earthy flavors. The dish can be a satisfying starter or a meatless entré e." Vilma uses mushroom broth, but we substituted vegetable broth because it's more widely available.

Fricasse De Girolles This makes a wonderful side dish to poultry or seafood, or a lovely dish all on its own.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. Makes use of the microwave oven.

If you can't find fresh porcini mushrooms, buy whole frozen ones, defrost them in the fridge, and drain them on paper towels. Then roast them, uncovered, until tender and golden brown (and for about half the time as the fresh ones). As a last resort, other exotic fresh mushrooms mixed with reconstituted dried porcini would provide the body and flavor the dish needs. (Avoid dried porcini that are broken up.) Pair this dish with a few risotto cakes to make a main course.

These mushrooms make a wonderful side dish for just about anything.

Outstanding in flavor and freshness, these marinated vegetables are unlike anything you'll find in a jar or deli case. But do make a trip to your local Italian delicatessen for sliced assorted cold cuts and crusty bread to go with the vegetables. It all adds up to an impressive no-hassle starter.

Works well as part of a vegetarian meal or as an accompaniment to meat or fowl.

Lane Crowther, Bon Appétit contributing editor, "Stuffing has always set the tone for our Thanksgiving dinners. We choose the stuffing—it might be Tex-Mex, or another regional American, or something else—then create the menu around it. A few years ago, the feast had an Italian accent, and a vegetable stuffing led the way."

Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 25 min

From Daniel Boulud and Alex Lee, the former executive chef at Daniel in New York.

"I spend as much time as I can cooking," writes Brigette Lyons of Allendale, New Jersey, "and I'm equally comfortable feeding two or two hundred. I thoroughly enjoy giving sit-down meals, including an annual Christmas luncheon I do for about twenty guests. I just like to cook, period. Cooking for two hundred may be different from making weeknight dinners for myself and my husband, John, but organization is the key to both. I try to keep things on hand that are simple and easy to prepare." Brigette prepares this dish for her annual Christmas luncheon. It's ideal for entertaining because it can be assembled ahead and baked just before serving.