Parsley

Flat omelets known as frittatas are popular throughout mainland Italy. In Apulia, this version is made to celebrate the harvest of spring onions.

Fine bulgur might seem like a specialty ingredient, but it is actually in most supermarkets under the name Near East Taboule Wheat Salad Mix — just toss away the seasoning packet.

Plump scallops, sprinkled with salt and pepper, are lightly grilled and served with a salsa rich in parsley and diced vegetables. The salsa should be made just before eating; otherwise the liquid content of the vegetables will turn the dish watery.

"This is one of my favorite pastas," Lisa Bonacossi said, citing its simplicity. "it is made with lemons, pine nuts, and oil that everyone has on hand." The flavors are simple and brilliant. The sauce is best served with fresh tagliatelle. I serve it with lemon wedges too for those who like to squeeze a bit of fresh juice over the pasta. Serve this with a well-chilled Pinot Grigio for a nice, bright combination.

An elegant main course from Xaviar’s restaurant in Garrison. Ask the butcher to bone the lamb for you.

This dish is ideal for entertaining, because you can prepare the sauce ahead and then simply toss it with the cooked pasta. Do not overcook the shrimp!

Grilled lamb (how special!) is best when marinated overnight. For a less salty flavor, use light soy sauce.

This is a quick, attractive dish, terrific with softly fried eggs for a spring weekend breakfast, as an appetizer for lunch or dinner, or as a side vegetable with roast chicken.

Active time: 35 min Start to finish: 45 min

This would also be delicious sprinkled over roast meat, poultry and seafood.

Cover the potatoes in plenty of dressing. Save extra, as the potatoes absorb it quickly and may need a retoss.

These birds are one of many excellent grilling ideas from Steven Raichlen, author of The Barbecue! Bible (Workman, 1998) and How To Grill, in bookstores later this month.

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 25 min

Food editor Melissa Roberts-Matar figured out what makes The Harrison's clams so special: the lightness of the coating. That's achieved by draining the buttermilk-soaked clams well and shaking off the excess coating after you dredge the clams. One restaurant touch that we loved was the delicious addition of fried thin lemon rounds and parsley sprigs; another was Joey Campanaro's accompanying Lemon Coriander Aïoli .

Serve this sauce with roasted meat, fish, or chicken. Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 20 min

Culinary archaeologists Susan Lord and Danilo Baroncini named their cookbook Pani Caliatu (available from Kitchen Arts & Letters in New York), for the traditional Aeolian twice-dried bread. For this recipe, the people of the Aeolian Islands use totani (flying squid). The recipe works just as well with squid found in the U.S. Since squid is often sold cleaned and in parts, be sure to get one set of tentacles per squid body to ensure that there will be enough stuffing. Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 1 1/4 hr

The origin of this dish is unknown, but it's a common menu feature of many Italo-American restaurants of the red-sauce variety. In kitchen lingo, a shoemaker is a shortcutting, skillful hack; a shoemaker cobbles things, a meal, together from the meager things on hand. In Italian, scarpa translates as "shoe" and scarpariella is slang for shoemaker. The actual name for one who plies this trade is calzolaio. In Chicken Scarpariella, a spring chicken is "hacked" up in to small pieces and quickly cooked with a few common ingredients.