Ricotta

Fresh and creamy all at once, this clever combination of rich ricotta ice cream and icy-cold watermelon chunks is a twist on the classic Creamsicle. Shaved bittersweet chocolate complements both flavors beautifully.

MELOPITA SANTORINIS Editor's note: This recipe is excerpted from Aglaia Kremezi's book The Foods of the Greek Islands. To read more about Kremezi and Greek Easter, click here. Individual cheese tarts similar to this one are prepared in Crete and on most of the Greek islands during Easter time. The olive-oil-and-beer pastry, based on a recipe from Paros, has a very nice flavor and texture.

Onions, cheese, and yogurt pies abound in the north of Greece, especially in shepherds' communities where dairy products are daily staples. This recipe is culled from that tradition, but instead of preparing a whole sheet pan with homemade phyllo, I have reworked it to make it accessible and more in tune with the meze style of eating.

Healthy bonus: Vitamin A and lycopene from the red peppers

Round out your breakfast: Add 1 cup steamed skim milk (heat on stove or in microwave until milk starts to froth) topped with 2 tsp nutmeg and 1 tsp honey.

Homemade, at least the way Self does it, fills you up without filling you out, but it takes an hour to make. Freeze the leftovers for quick meals that are more healthful than most of the ones you find in the freezer section of the supermarket.

Lasagna is comfort food — a real PMS soother. But it's also loaded with symptom-fighting calcium.

This traditional southern Italian pasta recipe, with its base of aglio e olio, garlic and oil, is one of those rustic foods that presents like a gourmet dish. It’s made entirely with pantry items, so it’s a perfect last-minute supper.

Delicate and creamy, these tender individual desserts taste equally good served warm or at room temperature. A spoonful of your favorite jam can be used in place of the glazed rhubarb.

Burricotti are superb whole-milk mozzarella rounds filled with ricotta (see box). Fresh ricotta also works well in this recipe, which would be a great cheese course, or a simple dessert.

Using prepared pizza dough, you can make these homemade cheese-filled calzones just as fast as your favorite pizzeria could deliver them.

Here's a kind of mac and cheese without any effort. Adding goat cheese gives American ricotta the tang it has when it comes from sheep's milk. I learned this trick from Sicilian cooking teacher Anna Tasca Lanza.

Editor's note: This recipe was included with two others from our roundup of great cookbooks for Dad. Lasagna needs to be constructed. That doesn't mean you need blueprints or permits, but it is a whole production. Pizza Noodles are like a sloppy lasagna. You can throw everything together, practically blindfolded. And what kid can resist the name?

Frittata di Ricotta The best ricotta is a farmer's jewel—thick, tangy, and, contrary to health regulations, unpasteurized. But we eat it anyway, at room temperature with a spoon, like kids skimming cream off the top of milk. Around Garfagnana, the mountain town where my mom grew up, this frittata is a staple, but is never served as an individual dish; the frittatas they made were huge and were sliced into single servings. You can't beat it for a buffet. It's also great with tomato sauce on top. Make sure to use the highest quality ricotta you can find.

Farro is often said to be the Italian word for "spelt," but it is actually a different strain of wheat.

Chef Sal Passalacqua of Dimaio Cucina in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, writes: "My father's family is from Sicily and I spent my teenage years there, so that's where a lot of my culinary influences come from. At first glance, Sicilian cooking seems very simple, but that simplicity depends on using the freshest ingredients and often the combination of sweet and tart flavors. The anchovy pasta and the ricotta and mascarpone cream puffs here are perfect examples." These can be served for dessert, tea, or brunch. Mascarpone, an Italian cream cheese, is sold at many supermarkets and at Italian markets.

The sweetness of the pears and honey in this recipe are a nice foil for the savory ricotta.

One of Cat Cora's signature dishes is a watermelon, feta, and mint salad (a nod to her Greek heritage). Here, she gives the recipe an Italian accent.