Pasta

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This zesty soup is based on a chicken and curry stew popular in the South. The origin of its name is unclear, but according to one account, it was brought to Savannah in the early 1800s by a sea captain who traveled the spice route from India.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

A salad of baby greens and raspberry vinaigrette and some pencil-thin breadsticks go well with the pasta. End the dinner with orange sherbet, Swedish butter cookies and, perhaps, a shot of aquavit.

For this osso buco we've substituted lamb shanks for the more traditional veal. We've also borrowed from the Greeks, adding avgolemono, a bright-tasting sauce of eggs, lemon juice, and broth.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. We found this pasta just as delicious without the salmon.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. Since the tomatoes in the sauce are cooked just briefly, this dish is a breeze to make.

Americans enjoyed most of the food at the scores of Italian restaurants that opened in the twenties, but they couldn't understand the appeal of spaghetti and tomato sauce: Where was the meat? To accommodate, the restaurants began to top the pasta with meatballs. This recipe takes the dish a step further by adding the Sicilian flavors of pine nuts and currants.

To round out the menu, offer a tossed green salad and uncork a Chianti to go with this delicious pasta dish. Sharpen your chopping and mincing skills with our technique video.

Braised pork shoulder, spicy Italian sausage, and pancetta enrich the tomato sauce. Dried crushed red pepper kicks up the heat.

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.

Called "French pasta" at the restaurant, this Provençal-style special (using no butter and a minimum of oil) is typical of Méteigner's light French fare.