Cheese

Danny Toma of Naples, Italy, writes: "As an expatriate southerner working in Italy, I created this recipe to combine my Mississippi roots with my temporary Italian home." This recipe makes a large quantity of pesto. Use half the pesto for 1 pound of cooked pasta and chill the rest in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Using frozen puff pastry for the crust makes this quiche-like tart super-easy.

Be sure to use fresh ricotta cheese from an Italian market — authentic ricotta has the rich, dense texture that's best for this recipe. Make the rolls one day ahead so the flavors can develop. Serve with marinara sauce for dipping.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This side dish goes especially well with grilled or broiled meats.

If you love spaghetti and meatballs, then you'll love this upmarket rendition featuring perciatelli-long, hollow pasta. The noodles are topped with a rich tomato and porcini mushroom sauce, and meatballs made with ground veal, Italian sausage and more porcini. Start things off with an antipasto platter of olive, assorted marinated vegetables and cured meats. Offer breadsticks alongside, and pour a full-bodied Chianti.

Since the crust is made with purchased puff pastry, this delightful savory tart comes together easily.

This dish was inspired by pommes Anna, the regal, crisp-crusted potato cake rumored to have been named for Anna Deslions, a famous courtesan in nineteenth-century Paris.

This unusual dish — which combines biscuits, tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese — is a cross between a meatless lasagna and a pizza bread. It's a terrific quick supper; just add a mixed green salad.

Start this easy Greek-style meal with a refreshing salad of tomatoes, cucumber, chopped red onion and Kalamata olives tossed with olive oil and lemon juice. Drizzle orange sections with ouzo, the Greek anise-flavored liqueur, to wind it up.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. Along with corn on the cob, serve some deli macaroni salad gussied up with chopped carrots and green bell peppers. Also have lettuce, sliced tomatoes and other condiments to pile onto the burgers. Strawberry shortcake is just right for dessert.