Broccoli Rabe

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Braised Broccoli This dish is to Christmas Eve dinner in Amalfi what apple pie is to July Fourth in middle America: an absolute necessity. The Amalfitani choose a leafy, lighter colored broccoli from Campania for this dish; the closest substitute in this country is broccoli rabe; choose a bunch with as many leaves as possible.

Crusty bread and radicchio with creamy Italian dressing make nice sides. End with red grapes and anise-dusted sugar cookies.

Serve roasted bell peppers and olives before this hearty entrée. Spoon sliced and sugared strawberries over ricotta cheesecake to complete the meal.

This pie, reminiscent of a frittata, is a great way to use up leftover pasta. Serve it with bread and a salad for lunch, brunch, or dinner.

(Emilia-Romagna Flatbread with Broccoli Rabe) A piadina is baked on a griddle, folded in half, and filled. In Emilia-Romagna, the fillings might include sautéed greens; cold meats such as prosciutto or salami; and semisoft or soft cheeses such as Fontina Valle d'Aosta. Piadine are usually eaten like sandwiches but can be cut into small wedges to serve as a first course.

We've substituted the florets of regular broccoli for broccoli rabe, since they are more readily available. Use rabe if you can find it at your market; it will lend a stronger, more authentic flavor to the dish.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

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

Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 30 min

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Clyde's Restaurant Group owns several successful restaurants in the Washington, D.C., area. Tom Meyer, head of restaurant development, is especially fond of this popular dish, served with mashed potatoes at Clyde's of Chevy Chase. If you can't find broccoli rabe (an Italian green), collard greens, Swiss chard or mustard greens will work well also.

Deidre A. Pallouras of Rochelle Park, New York, writes: "My husband and I recently traveled to Cincinnati, where we dined at Daveed's at 934 in Mount Adams. Although everything we ate was delicious, we were most impressed by the incredible salmon with horseradish cream. I'd love to try to recreate the dish at home."

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

The slight bitterness of the broccoli di rape contrasts pleasantly with the sweetness of the garlic. The pasta makes the soup more substantial.

For this recipe, Lisa uses broccoli rabe, a type of bitter Italian green. But the everyday supermarket broccoli works fine, too.