Italian

Use any leftover sauce as an omelet filling.

The ruffle-edged egg noodles called trenette absorb some of the rich broth in the rabbit mushroom sauce.

Cups of steaming cappuccino inspired this chocolate cake accented with cinnamon and coffee. It's a perfect dessert for any birthday celebration. The velvety cake is easily cut into layers, each of which will hold a generous quantity of frosting.

Favorite Italian flavors — espresso and hazelnut — come together in these appealing treats.

(Southern German and Alsatian Italian Plum Torte) This torte is served traditionally at the high holidays in early fall, when small blue Italian plums are in season. In southern Germany and Alsace the pie was made from zwetsche, a local variety of these plums. My aunt Lisl always used to make a murbeteig crust (a short-crust butter cookie dought) for this tart, and sliced each Italian plum into four crescent shapes. She lined the tart with breadcrumbs and then apricot preserves, which protected the dough during baking, leading to a crispy crust. She went light on the cinnamon, a spice she felt was overused in this country. (I agree with her.) My aunt's results, simple to prepare, were simply delicious.

The origin of this luscious dessert, which resembles an English trifle (the name translates as "English soup"), is most likely with the homesick Victorians who fled the cold English climate for the warmth of Italy. In this signature Neapolitan version, the sponge cake is soaked with rum and layered with chocolate-cinnamon and vanilla-orange custards. If you can't find sponge cake, two pound cakes can be used. For a decorative touch, pipe a whipped cream border around the edge of the dessert before serving.

Lots of garlic adds great flavor to this dish. At the restaurant they make it with spinach pappardelle, but fettuccine is a convenient substitution.

Every village on Sardinia makes its own special breads, and its rumored that there are five hundred different kinds on the island. This particular one comes from the area around Cagliari and was originally a holiday bread. It is now available every day. Formed into semicircles and called cocoeddi, it is made from a simple starter named biga, which gives the bread its special aroma, flavor and texture by producing a second fermentation. The starter can be kept in the refrigerator up to five days or can be frozen; before being used, it should be brought to room temperature, which takes about three hours.

Arugula adds zip to this creamy risotto.

(PASTA ALLA NORMA) Because the small Italian eggplants generally used in this dish can be hard to find in this country, we have substituted Asian eggplants.

(GRANITA DI LIMONE) This Sicilian classic is churned on the eastern part of the island and stirred instead in the west. We have included instructions for both methods. The granita is (authentically) very tart. Most of us thought it was refreshing, but a couple of sweet-tooth types found it a bit too puckery. If you like your dessert on the sweeter side, increase the sugar to 1/2 cup.

Capri, Italy This decadent flourless chocolate and almond cake originated on the island of Capri, where it's called torta Caprese.

The use of raisins and pine nuts in lightly sweet-and-sour sauces probably came to Sicily from Turkey; these ingredients also turn up in the cooking of Venice, long a commercial gateway to Turkey and the East, but less commonly in the anchovy-and-tomato sauces that are so fundamental to the Sicilian kitchen. Note that the zucchini in this dish is cooked rather soft, in the traditional Italian manner; if you want a more contemporary crisp product, add the zucchini toward the end for a quick cooking in the thickened sauce.

We chose Golden Delicious apples because they are available everywhere, but you can use locally grown heirloom varieties from your farmers' market instead. Just be sure to ask which ones are best for baking.

The wine glaze both balances the natural sweetness of the beets and intensifies the savory beet flavor. In Tuscany, this is a favorite side dish for game and fowl.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. This sandwich goes well with macaroni salad and sweet-potato chips. Scoop strawberry ice cream into waffle cones afterward.

Zuppa di Castagne e Cavolo Nero Cavolo nero is a member of the kale family. Between farm stands, specialty produce markets, and natural foods stores it is available year-round. To find it, be aware of its many aliases: Tuscan kale, black cabbage, lacinato, and dinosaur kale. Its rich, sweet, almost meaty flavor will have you hooked from the first bite.