Italian

Roasting corn brings out the natural sweetness and combining with ravioli, garlic and basil creates a delicious meal your whole family will love.

Ravioli tossed with asparagus, Parmesan cheese, pine nuts and pancetta creates a delicious meal. The lemon juice and olive oil drizzle provide a light, fresh taste.

Our grilled version of panzanella boasts sweet-and-sour flavors and gets even better as it sits.

Homey and comforting, this lovely pie comes together without much fuss. Thin egg noodles are layered with ham, cheese, and mushrooms; tiny peas scattered between the layers add a green burst of flavor. The dish is baked until beautifully golden, sliced like pie, and eaten at room temperature. This is traditionally baked on the day before Easter, to be eaten as part of the family picnics enjoyed on Angel's Monday, Italy's national holiday the day after Easter.

You can make zuppa inglese with all sorts of readymade cookies or cakes. Here it's made with colomba, Italy's traditional Easter cake. I love colomba's soft yeasty cake texture and fabulous buttery aroma. My favorite part is the top of the cake, which has a crisp, sweet almond crust. In Italy, the day after Easter is called Pasquetta, "Little Easter," or Il Lunedi dell'Angelo, "Angel's Monday." Italians traditionally go on a picnic that day, the first outdoor excursion since the start of winter. Dessert includes all the leftover Easter sweets like pastiera, colomba cake, or Easter eggs.

Italian wheat pies—filled with a rich ricotta custard studded with tender wheat berries—are associated with Easter celebrations, but according to author Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez, rice pies are just as classic and in her estimation, taste better. Eriquez had been making wheat pies for years when she had some extra dough a while back and used it to make a rice pie. "My family went berserk. They went crazy for it!" said Eriquez with a laugh. "Rice is more tender. It has a nicer taste than wheat," she explained. "If you give my family a choice, they're going to ask for the rice before the wheat." The pastry dough, pasta frolla, is delicate and tears easily, so if it softens, quickly chill it in the freezer for a few minutes. And don't worry about the tears; they patch easily.

Pizza rustica looks nothing like the Neopolitan-style pizzas we know so well in this country. That's because pizza in Italian means pie and not all Italian pies are made with a bread dough. Pizza rusticas tend to be double-crusted affairs enclosing a mixture of cheese and nuggets of various cured meats and sausages. With its rich filling, pizza rustica is often served at Easter as a way to celebrate after the lean eating during Lent. In this version, author Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez makes an open-faced pizza rustica.

Lamb is traditionally served at Easter in Italy as well as many other countries. Although author Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez grew up with the roasted legs of lamb prepared by her mother and grandmother, she prefers to braise a lamb shoulder. The meat turns out so tender and succulent that it's impossible to slice with a carving knife. Instead, it's pulled with a meat fork into moist, rich chunks. Depending on where you live, lamb shoulder may require a special order so be sure to allow time for a butcher to request it.

Dandelions are one of the first greens to appear in the spring and their slightly bitter flavor has long been welcomed as a counterpoint to the richness of the meat they're often served with. The dandelions used in this recipe are the long, dark green Italian style leaves that are increasingly available in supermarkets and farmers markets. If you can't find dandelion, use chicory or escarole. Cooking the greens in water first is a crucial step and will significantly lessen their bitter edge. The sweetness of the onion and the mild heat of the crushed red pepper the greens are later sauté with, balances them further.

You can leave out the salami for a vegetarian version of this winter panzanella.

Editor's note: Use this recipe to make Rawia Bishara's Eggplant Napoleon . The first time I ever tasted pesto, I was hooked. I remember the first meal I made using it like it was yesterday—linguini tossed with pesto, topped with fried eggplant and served with fresh home-baked bread. When I use pesto this way, as a sauce, I generally make it with pine nuts. If I'm going to incorporate it into a dish, I use almonds, which are less expensive.

Almonds are the new breadcrumbs. Their toasty flavor and crunch add just the right contrast to pasta.

Chef Nemo Bolin at Cook & Brown Public House in Providence, RI, turned us on to the technique for this streamlined, no-knead gnocchi dough.

If you've never tried Nutella, that ambrosial combination of hazelnuts and chocolate, put this book down right now, run to your nearest grocery store, and buy a jar. Bring a spoon along to expedite the Nutella-in-mouth process. OK, now that we're all on the same Nutella-obsession page, I'll proceed with a recipe that will make you fall into an incoherent puddle of babbling ecstasy, while simultaneously making you the most popular of all your friends (if you can bring yourself to share). What's more, this is a speedy, incredibly easy one to whip up, so you don't have to delay your satisfaction for too long.

Editor's note: Use this recipe to make Francine Segan's Torta Mimosa . Creamy custard seasoned with aromatic vanilla, this is an absolute basic, used to make hundreds of classic Italian desserts, including torta della nonna and zuppa inglese. It's also served plain, accompanied by fresh fruit, slices of pandoro or panettone, or cookies. This is a simple and very forgiving recipe.

Editor's note: Use this recipe to make Francine Segan's Torta Mimosa . Pan di spagna, "bread of Spain," is a key ingredient in hundreds of classic Italian desserts like zuccoto and Sicilian cassata. Pan di spagna's light and airy texture absorbs fillings amazingly well, so it stacks wonderfully, allowing you to create tall, moist layer cakes.

Region: Emilia-Romagna and popular throughout nothern Italy This cake, which looks like a bouquet of mimosa flowers, is eaten on March 8th in celebration of International Women's Day—Festa della Donna—a sort of BFF day celebrating womanhood and female friendships. The cake is made from two basic recipes: sponge cake and pastry cream. Each is worth learning, as with them you can make myriad classic Italian desserts. This lovely cake is better if eaten a day or two after its made. It keeps nicely for up to a week and freezes perfectly.