Fontina

A savory take on noodle kugel, this beautiful dish is creamy on the inside with a golden-crisp crust. Using thin egg fettuccine rather than traditional short, wide egg noodles adds elegance.

No time to heat up a pizza stone? This easy alternative method yields a crisp crust in just minutes. Good-quality cheese, olive oil, and prosciutto go a long way toward making the pie truly memorable.

Tender risotto is favored with Parmesan and Fontina cheeses in these addictively crispy cakes.

To make this dish even more decadent, add cooked chopped pancetta or cooked and crumbled smoked bacon.

Torta salata
Great on its own or as part of a meal, this tender bread is wonderfully rich, particularly when served warm.

Cookies may seem odd in a vegetable galette, but Italians often use amaretti to enhance squash—and it works with sweet potatoes, too. Whereas the potato and kale galette is savory, this is a little sweet, so it's worth making both.

Grape focaccia is a Tuscan classic. Here, we've reworked it with two kinds of cheese and a dash of sweet wine.

Heat the pizza stone and prepare the eggplant and other pizza toppings in this recipe while the pizza dough is rising.

Healthy bonus: Vitamin C and beta-carotene from the squash.

Healthy bonus: Vitamin A and lycopene from the red peppers

Healthy bonus: Bone-building magnesium and calcium from arugula

Marsha and John Antonelli of Whittier, California, write: "We recently had lunch at Bistro Jeanty, in Yountville, California, where the ham, leek, and three-cheese quiche was so outstanding we went back twice. Could you persuade the chef to share this excellent recipe?" Extremely creamy and rich, this quiche could be served for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. You can make your own crust, but the premade kind will save some time.

These little appetizer pizzas are perfect finger food.

Why a trio of cheeses? Fontina for its melting quality and nutty flavor, Gorgonzola for its biting blue punch, and Parmigiano-Reggiano for its uncanny ability to amplify other cheeses.

Use the season's first wild mushrooms in this satisfying vegetarian pasta.

These make a lovely breakfast or side dish.

Ultra-creamy Fontina cheese and a layer of black-olive tapenade give this an unctuous, satisfying quality that is usually missing from other veggie pizzas. What to drink: Dry rosé or a spicy Rhône-style red.