Fettuccine

A green salad is all you need to make this pasta — its creaminess sharpened with a touch of horseradish — into a complete dinner. When shopping, it's helpful to know that egg noodles are usually sold coiled into small nests.

While staying at the Hotel Villa Flori, which overlooks Italy's Lake Como, I had an outstanding pasta with a chunky pesto sauce," says Patty Owens of Walnut Creek, California. "Is there any chance the chef would share the recipe?" This pesto sauce includes walnuts, a variation on the classic recipe. To give the dish a creamy quality, add some of the pasta cooking water to the sauce.

"Gelson's market here in Los Angeles has a fantastic variety of prepared foods in the deli," says Susan Baker of Los Angeles, California. "My mother, who doesn't have a Gelson's where she lives in Tacoma, would make a trip to Southern California just for their lemon chicken pasta. I'd love to surprise her with the recipe." This dish is best served either chilled or at room temperature. If you'd like to make your own pasta, our technique video will show you how.

Low-fat milk is the base for the cream sauce in this homey main course.

An entrée from Bar Italia, St. Louis, Missouri. Herbed breadcrumbs top it off nicely.

Toasted baguette slices topped with purchased pesto or caponata make a quick starter; a salad of mixed greens and sliced red onions is perfect alongside the pasta. Offer lemon mousse for a refreshing finale. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Spicy crushed red pepper, rosemary and garlic enhance this main course. Uncork an Italian Barbera to match the menu's hearty flavors. For dessert, offer a compote of blueberries and sliced nectarines with crème fraîche (available at many supermarkets) or lightly whipped cream.

The pasta and sauce cook simultaneously (so two cooks can divide and conquer), for a total of about ten minutes, start to finish. Serve with your best bottle of bubbly.

"While vacationing in northeastern Minnesota, I had dinner at the Cove Point Lodge in Beaver Bay. The highlight of my meal there was called Lucca pasta, a blend of fettuccine, chicken and vegetables in a creamy, slightly spicy sauce," says Debra Adam of St. Paul, Minnesota.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

The delicate 1/16-inch-wide pasta ribbons known as taglierini or tagliolini are the perfect foil for scallops and this elegant-and easy-sauce.

Lots of garlic adds great flavor to this dish. At the restaurant they make it with spinach pappardelle, but fettuccine is a convenient substitution.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.