Pappardelle

"I used to go to central New Jersey frequently on business and always made time to stop at Eccoqui, an Italian restaurant in Bernardsville," writes Bobbi Reed of Denver, Colorado. "Since I no longer travel to that area, I miss the restaurant — and especially the pappardelle con salsiccia." Try any of your favorite pasta shapes with this sauce. Pappardelle or mafaldine — broad, flat noodles with rippled edges — work particularly well.

(Pasta con Ragù di Vitello, Salsicce e Porcini) Ragù is a beloved part of Tuscan cooking. Every person has his or her own recipe, but the basics are constant: It is a hearty sauce made with meat (beef, pork, veal, duck, even boar) and vegetables like carrots, tomatoes and onions, all cooked in wine and broth. And ragù is most often served over pasta. This recipe includes dried porcini mushrooms, which give the sauce a real taste of the Tuscan countryside.

Pappardelle con Stracotto Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 4 hr

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This earthy pasta dish is delicious made with the wide, long noodles called pappardelle, or with the thinner and more readily available fettuccine.

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Getting the consistency of the creamy mushroom sauce right is key for this pasta recipe. You want to reduce it just until it clings to the pasta to create a light coating.