Strawberry

The frozen berries aren't thawed before you use them, so this dessert is super fast.

Italy's sweet and buttery-smooth mascarpone cheese adds flavor and creaminess. Begin this cheesecake at least one day ahead.

Peppery arugula, sweet, ripe strawberries, and buttery hazelnuts create layers of contrasting flavor in this simple salad.

This quick little pan roast really captures the spirit of Italian food culture although I've never seen anything quite like it in Italy. The balsamic-flavored zabaglione is a nod to the classic Modenese osteria dessert of raw strawberries with balsamic vinegar and black pepper.

Here we take two of the best treats from days gone by and combine them in one dessert. The cookies are also superb on their own.

This luscious pound cake is not as rich as the traditional version. Note that the cake batter will come only half way up the sides of the pan.

A berry dessert that's a great finish to the spiced chicken breast meal.

Perhaps the ultimate springtime dessert — classic strawberry shortcakes are spruced up with white chocolate mousse.

(Panna Cotta con Salsa di Fragole al Vin Santo) As tiramisù became the Italian restaurant dessert of the 1980s, so did panna cotta take over in the 1990s. The original recipe for "cooked cream" comes from Piedmont, but Tuscans have appropriated it. Their version of the eggless custard is often topped with honey and pine nuts, since the Tuscan city of Pisa is Europe's largest producer of pinoli. This recipe incorporates those ingredients into the custard, then tops it off with a delicious strawberry sauce laced with Vin Santo, the cherished dessert wine of the region. Begin making this one day ahead.

Perfect for celebrations, the elegant torte has a filling of strawberries and chocolate ganache, which is also used as the frosting.

Lemon verbena is a perfumy herb with a strong lemon flavor and a lemon-lime aroma. Its shiny green leaves can be added to salads, chicken and fish dishes, and desserts, as well as tea. For this pound cake, if you can't find lemon verbena at your specialty produce market or nursery, use freshly grated lemon zest in its place.

Any leftover compote is great served over vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt.

It's so easy to make these processor-quick biscuits ahead if you like. Then reheat, split and fill them with ice cream and berries just before serving.

Cheesecake and Champagne are a great finale. Begin making the dessert a day ahead.

(FRAGOLE ED UVE CON MENTA E VINIGLIA) This colorful salad is accented with mint, a favorite ingredient in native cooking.

Hazelnuts are teamed with strawberries and rhubarb in this rustic tart. Vanilla ice cream is a must for serving.

"There are three recipes I like for strawberry jam," says Caroline Bates. "My mother’s long-cooked one may be too much trouble for some people; the sun-cooked version is impractical for city dwellers ('First, find a sunny rooftop....'). But this soft strawberry jam (also my mother’s) is simpler and good, too." Its flavor depends on the berries' being fully sweet, completely ripe yet firm, and with not a trace of white near the stem. Such berries have less pectin than underripe ones, so the jam will be loose. Just spoon it out of a jar and dribble it on biscuits.