Pumpkin and Ricotta Gnocchi

A lighter version of a traditional Italian favorite with full fall flavor

Dumplings! We’ve never met one we didn’t love. And gnocchi top our list of faves.

Since it’s autumn, we’re making these plump little pillows of goodness with pumpkin. And we’re pairing that with ricotta cheese (rather than the more traditional potato) to make for a lighter dish.

Because lighter means we can eat more. And when it comes to dumplings, more is always better.

Baked Ziti

Homey, cheesy, hearty, comforting – family food at its finest

Baked Ziti (aka baked pasta or pasta al forno) can be made with any tubular pasta. No matter what shape we use, though, we always call it baked ziti. Because that’s the name we’ve always known it by.

This dish is easy to put together. Its flavor and character resemble lasagna, but it’s a much simpler dish to assemble. Kind of a poor man’s lasagna, we suppose.

But the flavor couldn’t be richer.

Italian Sausage and Grapes with Pasta

Savory, sweet, and spicy – and quick enough for weeknight dinner

Sweet grapes paired with savory sausage? Yup, it’s a classic.

This Italian dish is most often served as a simple sauté flavored with balsamic vinegar and sometimes garlic. But we like to combine it with pasta for an easy main course.

With a glass of wine, of course. Because grapes.

Italian Sausage and Lentil Soup

This comforting soup is dinner in a bowl

Warming food that’s simple, quick, and tasty? Bring it on!

This meaty, spicy Italian Sausage and Lentil Soup is easy enough for weeknight dinner, but flavorful enough for sharing with friends. Like, when you’re watching a big game on TV.

We hear there might be a super-big one coming up soon.

Italian Braised Short Ribs

Richly flavored comfort food that’s easy to make ahead

Ready for some fall fare? This deep-flavored dish will take the chill off.

Long, slow cooking tenderizes short ribs and extracts maximum flavor from them. And this dish is best if you make it a day or so ahead of time, then reheat it right before serving. That makes it perfect for company.

So get those dinner invitations ready. No engraving required.

Basic Italian Tomato Sauce (Marinara)

This fast and flavorful sauce is perfect for weeknight pasta

Looking for quick and delicious? We’re here to help.

Our basic Italian tomato sauce (sometimes called marinara) cooks in half an hour or less. It also has a lighter, fresher flavor than meat-based ragù.

It’s great with almost any pasta shape. You can also use it as a sauce for dishes like chicken or veal parmigiana. Or even as a topping when you make pizza.

Weeknight quick, company ready. Perfecto!

Italian Sesame Cookies

A grown-up treat that’s not over sweet

Christmas is coming up soon. And that means cookies. We bake lots of them at our house.

But sometimes we need to lessen the sugar overload. Which this cookie does, with style. It has just enough sweetness to satisfy, but not too much.

These cookies are great with tea or coffee, or with the classic glass of milk. They make a nice afternoon treat, too.

Even your kids will like these. And you? Let’s call it love.

Pasta with Shrimp and Fennel

A Piquant Tomato Sauce Adds Full Flavor

Lots of us eat more fish this time of year.  Some are still following New Year’s resolutions to eat healthier.  And what’s healthier than fish and seafood?  For others, Lent means fish or seafood every Friday at a minimum, so new recipes are always welcome.   And some of us just crave the taste. 

Shrimp is a favorite of most seafood lovers.  Almost everyone likes its briny tang.  But in much of the US, it’s still cold, so we’re also craving hearty dishes.  Like a big, warm plate of pasta — which just happens to pair wonderfully with shrimp.

So why not combine the two in a spicy tomato sauce?  Then add some fennel (a perfect winter veggie) for extra credit.  The result?  A welcoming cold-weather dish with flavor that won’t quit.

Pasta e Fagioli

This Pasta and Bean Soup is Italian Comfort Food

Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta and Beans) can be found throughout Italy.  It’s a dish that everyone eats — and one that most everyone thinks of with nostalgia.  Comfort food at its finest.  And with the cold winter weather we’re having here in the Northern Hemisphere, we all need some comfort!

Pasta e Fagioli is usually served as a soup (a few versions are more like a very thick stew), and every region has its own recipe.  Heck, I think every family has its own recipe.  I recently started looking at all the Pasta e Fagioli recipes in my cookbooks and stopped when I reached the 30th different version — and I wasn’t even halfway through my cookbook collection!  So even though the basic procedures and ingredients for making this dish are pretty similar, there are countless variations.

The traditional recipe involves soaking and then cooking dried beans, a procedure that takes some time (we’re talking hours, though the active time is minimal).  And my recipe does specify dried beans.  But there’s a shortcut you can take (detailed in the Notes), which means you can actually put together a credible version of this dish in about 40 minutes.  Add a salad and you have a complete and nutritious meal.

Pasta e Fagioli.  It’s Italian for good stuff!

Zabaglione

This Foamy Egg Custard is an Italian Dessert Classic

Looking for a festive dessert for a special occasion?  Like Valentine’s Day, maybe?  Something sweet but light — and different?

How about Zabaglione?  Pronounced Zah-bahl-YOH-nay, it can also be spelled Zabaione (same pronunciation).  In France they call it Sabayon. 

Once a staple of Italian restaurants, this foamy egg custard classic has become less popular in recent years.  I don’t know why — it’s a delectable dessert.  And a flexible one!  You can serve it freshly made and warm, or prepare it ahead of time and serve chilled.

Add some fresh berries and mama mia!  You’ll be a star.

Homemade Pasta and Noodles

Machines Make Homemade Pasta Easier

Homemade pasta and noodles are incredibly tasty — and relatively easy to make if you use a food processor and a pasta machine. 

Some will argue that mixing the dough and rolling it out by hand produces a more toothsome result.  And they may be right.  But unless you’re ready to make a batch of pasta every day for weeks on end to acquire the skill and muscle memory you need for this exercise, well, using machines in your kitchen is the way to go.

White Bean and Tuna Salad

Serve this Fast and Easy Italian Classic as a Main Dish or a Side

We have some warm days ahead of us before autumn rolls in, so we’re still in the mood for lighter fare.  Nothing tastes better — or is quicker to prepare — than a refreshing bean salad.

Pairing white (cannellini) beans with tuna is a classic of Italian home cooking.  In the United States, the closest corollary would probably be tuna salad made with mayonnaise.

White bean and tuna salad makes a pleasing main course when you want something light for dinner or lunch.  It also works as a hefty side dish. 

Best of all, it requires only pantry staples.  In fact, you probably have the ingredients on hand already.  So you could make it — and be eating it — in under ten minutes.