Side

Kids go crazy for this dish. It’s creamy, colorful, and, best of all, they can eat it with a spoon!

Anchovy is the secret ingredient that makes this dish so delicious. If you have anchovy haters in your family, don’t worry; the anchovies melt into the butter-and-olive oil mixture, so no one will even know they are there.

When I was very young, this was my staple dinner; it’s an Italian child’s comfort food, our version of mac and cheese. It’s really easy to make and the ingredients are very simple, which is part of its charm. Serve it to the child in your life, or as a side dish with any kind of roast meat or poultry.

The secret ingredient in this dish is the garlicky croutons. I buy good-quality prepackaged garlic croutons from a local bakery and keep them in my pantry for emergencies (I also have been known to snack on them from time to time). You can certainly make them from scratch, but in this dish, it’s fine to substitute store-bought if you have a good source. I love the almondy and garlicky flavor the crumbs give the pasta.

The whole idea behind this dish is that it is made from leftovers you find in the refrigerator. This happens to be one of my favorite combinations, but use whatever kind of cheese you find in the bin, and substitute any veggies you have on hand for the asparagus. It’s so good that I often make it for a quick dinner when I haven’t had a chance to get to the market.

This is a mildly flavored dish; the peppers virtually melt into the sauce during the long, slow cooking. In my family this is served as a side dish for pork or lamb.

Walnut pesto is very popular in Piedmont, where I first tasted this dish. It’s really great on its own, simply tossed with a long-cut pasta, but I think the peppers give it a bit more body and also make the dish more beautiful on the plate.

Next time you feel like pasta and a salad for lunch, why not combine the two? I love the way the heat of the pasta warms the greens. I often make this when I’m cooking for one; just adjust all the ingredient quantities accordingly, and start with 6 ounces (about 1 cup) of dried pasta.

Meyer lemons are sweeter than regular lemons and, unfortunately, are in season for only a short time each year. Since they are hard to find, I’ve fallen in love with Meyer lemon olive oil, which captures their flavor very well and adds both citrus tang and a hint of sweetness to all kinds of recipes. Because this is such a simple dish—the sauce is just onions, the oil, and fresh marjoram—do try to get your hands on some Meyer lemon olive oil; I use the one made by DaVero. If you can’t find it, though, you can use the citrus oil on page 226.

For this dish, be sure to use the vacuum-packed type of gnocchi, not those that come hard and dry in a box, as they are full of preservatives. You can also buy fresh gnocchi at many specialty food shops, or even make your own (see page 109), though that’s not really necessary for this dish. It’s a little spin on the basic gnocchi dish that’s also a really colorful meal-in-one, packed with spinach and cheese.

I happen to love gnocchi; they’re like little pillows in your mouth, and very, very comforting. Although you can get them at any grocery store these days, when I have some time, I still enjoy making them at home.

Although it’s not a true-blue, all-American macaroni and cheese because it’s made with wide egg noodles rather than the more traditional elbow macaroni or small shell pasta, this is probably the version I make most often. It’s a dish I fell in love with when I first had it years ago at Harry’s Bar in Venice. Later I re-created it at home as the ultimate comfort food and also to bring back memories of Venice.

Couscous is technically a pasta made from semolina, though many people consider it a grain. In southern Italy it is used often, a lasting memento of the Arabs that invaded Sicily in the ninth century. I particularly appreciate the way it cooks so quickly. This is a perfect side dish for large-scale entertaining because it doubles or even triples beautifully.

When we’re hosting game night and have lots of my husband’s friends coming over, I make this salad. It’s hearty and colorful, and because it holds very well at room temperature, I can make it ahead of time so I can take part in game night, too!

Among the many virtues of this salad is that it can be made ahead very successfully and it also looks so attractive.

Salade Niçoise meets all-American pasta salad in this all-in-one dish that’s perfect for a picnic or dinner on a hot summer night. The trick is to use the Italian canned tuna; the flavor of water-packed albacore tuna is just not comparable.

I make this as a side dish at least three times a week—that’s how much I love spinach, and how much I love it served this way. It’s easy, delicious, and great for you. The secret is the soy sauce; although it’s not Italian, it gives the spinach a fabulous salty kick.

The perfect light, clean side salad to serve alongside a hearty pasta, this is my version of succotash. The different shades of yellow and green beans make it really pretty, too.

Vin Santo is known as the Wine of Saints, and some of the very best is produced in northern Italy. It’s drunk mostly as a dessert wine (it’s perfect for dipping biscotti), but I also like to use it in vinaigrettes because of its smooth, sweet flavor. It brightens up the asparagus and makes this simple salad more luxurious.

This is the Italian version of blue cheese dressing, and it’s just as rich and decadent as its American counterpart.