Rosemary

Pizza bianca (white pizza) is a Roman dish that's more like seasoned flatbread than your typical pizza. It's great with the salumi and cheese.

Simmering a pork roast with milk and a generous handful of herbs results in very tender meat with rich, silky juices. Many Italians will leave the milk curds that form alongside the meat where they are, but Ferrigno strains them out for a more refined sauce.

When shopping for a chicken, look for the organic seal. An organic chicken will be juicier than one that's conventionally raised. In this recipe, the chicken is butterflied for quicker cooking.

Potato pancakes get a makeover, and so do you! These have lots of vitamin A, which will help keep your skin healthy for the holidays.

Rosemary and garlic give these succulent pork chops Mediterranean flair.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Laurent Tourondel's book Bistro Laurent Tourondel. Tapenade, a paste of puréed black olives and other flavorful ingredients, is a typical seasoning for lamb in the Provence region of Southern France. You can buy it ready-made or make it yourself. This lamb is also good made with a paste of marinated sun-dried tomatoes instead of the tapenade.

This pretty side dish (the onions open up like flowers) would be great alongside steak or roast chicken.

This particularly enticing version of the holiday favorite includes fresh rosemary and thyme along with the spices. The nuts can be made several days in advance and stored in resealable plastic bags in a cool, dry place.

To add richness, sauté three ounces sliced pancetta until crisp; crumble over before serving. Varietal honeys are available at specialty foods stores and online at chefshop.com.

Both the turkey and the gravy get big-time flavor from earthy dried porcini mushrooms.

Salty Italian bacon flavors both the turkey and the gravy. Does it get any better?

These Italian kebabs make a very stylish one-dish supper.

Lamb shoulder chops are widely available and are less expensive than lamb rib chops.

The flavor of this pasta fagioli is so haunting and the texture so voluptuous that you'll wonder how such modest ingredients could conspire to create something so indulgent. And what makes it successful as a make-ahead main is that the pasta is cooked separately. I make vats of the bean soup ahead, then each time I reheat a portion, I boil up a fresh batch of dried pasta so the al dente texture balances the creaminess of the soup.

If four people eat a mix of light and dark skinless meat, you'll have enough leftovers for two more meals. Bonus: Your oven does all but 10 minutes of the work.