Mozzarella

Serve with: Romaine salad with creamy Italian dressing, and steamed Broccolini. Dessert: Lemon gelato topped with sliced figs and Marsala.

Crusty Italian bread and a simple salad round out a delicious meatless meal. What to drink: A robust Italian Barbera.

Jiffy muffin mixes were part of the boxed baking craze that took hold in the thirties, and they remain a supermarket staple. Here, frozen corn kernels, shredded cheese and fresh basil are convenient additions.

This sprightly first course is a cinch to put together.

Offer with artichoke hearts, olives, and salami.

Saturday night is typically pizza-making night for my family, and one of the standard features of these evenings is pizza with pesto and fresh tomatoes. I use a good store-bought pesto, and, although I once made the dough in my bread machine, I now purchase excellent dough at our local Bertucci's restaurant and keep plenty on hand in the freezer. The dinner is simple and delicious. A pizza stone is a worthwhile investment if you're partial to pizza with a crisp crust that doesn’t droop. For this recipe we used a large pizza stone (about 14 inches across). But don’t despair if you don't have one; we also achieved good results when we baked the pizza on a baking sheet.

An easy no-bake lasagna.

Active time: 1 1/2 hr Start to finish: 2 hr

Elarji (Adapted from The Georgian Feast) This very cheesy cornmeal pudding, made here with grits, is a perfect accompaniment to Georgian Pork Stew. The surprise is that ordinary supermarket mozzarella works better than fresh as a substitute for the Georgian sulguni cheese for which this recipe was designed.

Serve with: Crudités dipped into creamy Italian dressing. Dessert: Sliced apricots drizzled with anisette liqueur.

Roasted bell peppers, prosciutto, and olives are added to the classic Italian trio of tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil. Serve with plenty of crusty country bread.

For his pizza, Geoffrey Selling broils the eggplant instead of frying it in a lot of oil to lower the fat. But he coats the eggplant with commercial olive-oil spray, and we are reluctant users. How much different is spraying from lightly brushing with oil? To find out, we tested this two ways, spraying the eggplant one time and brushing it the other, and did not find a difference in oiliness. But after tasting the spray, right from the can, and then the bottled oil, we prefer the old-fashioned way.

This pie uses pizza toppings as a filling. Serve it with a tossed green salad.

These deep-fried dessert pastries, which are sweetened with honey, are known as sebadas.

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 30 min