Pancetta

This is a great entrée for entertaining or for a special weeknight dinner for your family. Either way, no one except you will know how easy it is to make. And your secret is safe with us.

Active time: 1 hr. Start to finish: 1 hr.

In 1917, a society grande dame asked Julius Keller, maître d’ of the Casino restaurant in New York, to surprise her with a new dish. Keller presented clams baked on the half shell, topped with minced bell pepper, herb butter and bacon. By the twenties, Clams Casino, as Keller called it, was ubiquitous on restaurant menus. Here is a lightened version with great lively flavors.

(Carciofi Ritti) The best artichokes in Tuscany are the small purple ones that come from the area around Grosseto, a southern city near the sea. But the variety is endless: big ones, little ones, violet ones; served boiled, steamed, even raw. In this dish, which is an interpretation of a classic Florentine recipe, artichokes are filled with a savory mixture of pancetta and parsley, drizzled with olive oil, and braised.

Roasted poblano chilies add a wonderful smoky flavor to this pizza; however, if they are not available in your area just omit them from the recipe.

Fast-rising yeast makes this bread a snap to prepare. A dry red wine, like Chianti, is ideal with this Italian-accented menu.

Daube de Boeuf

Cooking down radicchio with vinegar and sugar until jammy is an eye-opening approach that reveals a world of options beyond salad.

Salty pancetta and briny marinated artichokes are a perfect match in this luscious pasta featuring pantry-friendly ingredients.

Crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside, this smothered fried chicken with polenta and herb gremolata is perfect for a dinner party. 

Humble ingredients—eggs, pasta, cheese, and pork—combine to create glossy, glorious spaghetti carbonara that’s just as good at dinner as at 2 a.m.

It doesn’t take a lot of ingredients (or a lot of money) to make a classic Bolognese recipe. What it does take, though, is patience!

This satisfying veg-forward dish proves that sometimes the role for meat is as a supporting actor helping to make green things shine.

Is it necessary to blanch, then shock, the ramp greens? If you want a super-green (not khaki) pesto, it is.

You can omit the pancetta, but it gives the finished dish a meaty depth that’s worth the extra step.

If you have leftover "everything" spice, stir it into Greek yogurt drizzled with olive oil for a savory breakfast.

The pasta will continue to absorb the broth as it sits, so use a small noodle like ditalini, stars, or alphabet shapes.