Pasta

Cook your mussels in one pot with garlic, fennel seeds, and white wine while your linguine cooks in another pot. Combine the two and then toss them with your favorite herbs from the garden and some grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. Now make believe you're vacationing on the Italian coast.

Summer—with its great produce—is a good time to go vegetarian.

No bottled tomato sauce can equal a simple homemade one—especially when the robust flavor of the grill is added to the mix.

Crumb toppings normally appear on fruit desserts, but a savory mixture of grated pecorino and toasted walnuts works in much the same way, adding textural contrast to delicate fettuccine and grilled zucchini. Garlic-chile oil jazzes up the flavor.

Mushrooms in general are great for grilling, and portabellas—which not only have a wonderful, earthy flavor but are also large enough to be easy to handle on the grill—are perhaps the best of all.

These pearls may not be from the sea—couscous is actually a type of pasta—but their firm texture makes them a natural partner for sautéed shrimp. The simple tomato and white-wine sauce adds spark.

Clams are excellent on the grill. The tinge of smokiness perfectly complements their briny flavor, and, conveniently enough, they pop open when they are done cooking. Combined with crisp bacon, they’re the foundation of a very easy yet very flavorful pasta sauce.

Because of its shape, orzo can do nearly anything rice can do, and if you're a pasta lover, you might say orzo does it better.

This dish is like risotto (only quicker and easier) and features cooked orzo topped with garlicky shrimp.

Purchased tapenade gives rich, briny flavor to the fish and the couscous.

The slight bitterness of the roasted broccolini balances the richness of the duck breast.

Don't be tempted to buy precrumbled goat cheese, despite the time savings—it won't melt as well.

One 16-ounce container of ricotta is enough for this recipe and leftovers.

Use the oil from the artichokes, because it is flavorful and adds punch.

Buy the freshest seasonal vegetables for this pasta. A trip to your local farmers’ market might be in order.

You can find many good brands of prepared tomato sauce in supermarkets. Fresh tomatoes and basil add flavor, and the sausage and red pepper bring on the heat.

Good-quality ingredients brought together with a minimum of fuss: That kitchen philosophy is inventively illustrated by this dish. Tender, delicate crab usually shows up amid other tender, delicate things, but when teamed with a rustic, chewy homemade semolina pasta (the real star of the show), it develops a certain swagger. Spring onions, fresh chile, and a bit of lemon juice add even more verve.

Flour and water—can it get any more basic? After a few minutes of kneading, the dough magically comes together into a smooth, supple ball. Fettuccine is the goal here, but Chun also likes to cut the pasta into free-form "rags" to serve with a wild-mushroom sauce.

Full of garden vegetables and pasta, this soup relies on a bright basil-and-parsley-based sauce (the pistou) for a last-minute explosion of herbal flavor.