Linguine

This is as delicious with mussels as it is with clams. Offer a simple green salad afterward, and pears and a wedge of Italian cheese for dessert.

Mark Taylor of West Hartford, Connecticut, writes: "I started cooking out of necessity when I first graduated from college, since I couldn't afford to eat out. Having grown up watching my mother cook for our large family, I used her recipes. She was always trying new dishes whenever we had guests and sharing her adventurous attitude toward eating. These days, even though my wife and I both work, we still cook several times a week. Now I tend to rely on recipes I've picked up from restaurants and friends. I enjoy experimenting with different ingredients and figuring out new ways to improve a recipe, as I've done with the one here."

A quick version of the traditional Sicilian dish pasta con le sarde. Accompany it with herbed focaccia topped with goat cheese, as well as a salad of roasted red bell peppers. Finish the meal with a fresh fruit tart. This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

(Pasta allo Scoglio) Tuscany is not famous for its seafood dishes, but fantastic fresh fish and shellfish are available all along the coast. A scoglio is a rocky seashore, and in the traditional pasta allo scoglio, only shellfish from the rugged Mediterranean seaside can be used in the sauce. Many kinds of fish are included in the various renditions prepared up and down the Tuscan coast today. Watch how to clean and prepare shellfish and how to make your own pasta.

Though Rose Pascale always uses fresh octopus (sold as pulpo in many Latino markets), we found that it's generally sold frozen. You may need to special-order or reserve octopus from your local fish market several days ahead.

A sophisticated dish made from an assortment of pantry staples.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

From Il Pastaio, Beverly Hills, California.

Jalapeño and basil add zip to a classic dish.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

A simple dish from the Cottage Inn, Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Curry dishes are usually served over rice, but pasta is a delicious change.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

On a weekday, accompany this main course with breadsticks and marinated vegetables from the deli. Wrap up with grapes and cookies. For a festive occasion, start with an antipasto of olives and roasted vegetables, then serve an arugula, radicchio and toasted walnut salad dressed with lemon vinaigrette. Finish with an Italian fruit crostata.

Add chicken or pork to turn this side dish into a satisfying main course. Chopped roasted peanuts are a nice garnish.

Imported from Italy early in the decade, sun-dried tomatoes seduced the nation. Two other obsessions were pasta and pesto. All those ingredients combine here in a dish that doesn’t age.

"I come from a big family, so I learned how to cook to help my mother feed all of those hungry mouths," says Molly Shannon Daum, Evergreen Park, Illinois. "Dad loved whatever I made, and he would always tell me that I should have my own restaurant named Molly's Marvelous Makings. But despite Dad's suggestion, I decided to study nursing. Nowadays I usually don't get home until seven o'clock at night, which means that dinner has to be quick. Sometimes my husband, Tom, helps out in the kitchen, but mostly it's up to me to get something delicious on the table fast. Since the opportunity to prepare challenging meals doesn't come up often, I save the complex cooking for the times when we entertain. That’s when I get to use the recipes that might have appeared on my menu if I'd taken Dad's advice." Molly also uses the dressing on salads.