Chicken broth and pastina, that was the soup that nourished me when I was a sick child, and the tradition continued with my children. Surely, tiny specks of pasta floating in a clear broth could I stymie the most stubborn cold and when it vanished the request was still there for pastina in other guises as well cooked and mixed with lots of butter and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, or with tomato sauce. Another favorite soup was pastina with marble-size meatballs, often served as a first course to Sunday dinner. Baking the meatballs instead of frying them keeps them light and tender, and eliminates adding any additional fat. Having chicken broth on hand makes this a soup that can be ready in no time.

This spicy tomato-and-anchovy sauce is the perfect accompaniment for plain fusilli.

A raqu is a slow-simmering meat sauce and is a classic of Bolognese cooking, with many variations. The long, slow cooking in an earthenwa...

Heres a nice choice for an Italian-American vegetarian macaroni-and-meatball dish that my mother makes. The meatballs are made using cooked eggplant instead of ground meats. It is wonderfully surprising how good this tastes, and Mom always gets rave reviews. Any short cut of dried pasta such as macaroni, rigatoni, gemelli, or ziti would be a good choice.

A few olives, a handful of herbs, some chips of cheese, and last night’s leftover pasta-these are the things from which, in days gone by,...

Malloreddus is the national pasta dish of Sardinia and the big cousin to fregola, another traditional pasta. The term malloreddus comes f...

Guests will love opening up these rustic-looking parchment bundles of spaghetti with clams. This is a favorite recipe as much for the pre...

Dried tomatoes in olive oil have exquisite flavor, and what a gift to give yourself in the stillness of winter. Plum or cherry tomatoes w...

Making a timballo, or timpano, is an event. It becomes the moment in which ordinary ingredients like macaroni, cheese, and vegetables are...

It is always a good idea to keep homemade broths on hand; they are easy to make ahead and can be frozen for future use. If canned broths ...

Canned tomato sauce will never measure up to homemade, a relatively simple undertaking that is much less costly than buying jarred types,...

Here is a simple recipe for making toasted bread crumbs. Use it whenever a recipe calls for them. Toasted crumbs can be made only from go...

Orzo is better known as pearl barley and is a favorite addition to soup and just right in this glorious and hearty soup made with chunks ...