Pasta

Ripe tomatoes, basil and fresh corn enhance a terrific side dish.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Crusty Italian bread and mixed greens with a red wine vinaigrette are good with the pasta. Afterward, put out big strawberries and bowls of mascarpone cheese (or sour cream) and brown sugar for dipping.

This pasta dish originated in the region of Lazio, not Tuscany. However, it is popular throughout Italy — and America — today.

"I got the inspiration for this recipe from a dish we made in a cooking class I took recently," says Tracy McGillis of San Francisco, California. "I added a few twists and came up with my own tasty version."

One great thing about this lasagna is that the noodles don't need to be pre-boiled. The dish has a lot of liquid (in the form of sauce) and goes into the oven covered, so the noodles get cooked perfectly as the lasagna bakes. Add a green salad, and serve some Chianti or California red Zinfandel with the main course.

The hearty sauce is also great over couscous.

A lovely do-ahead pasta salad for spring.

Regular button mushrooms are a nice substitute for the portobellos in this side dish.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This satisfying pasta is an easy-to-make entrée to serve after a night on the town. Just add a salad, bread, and some sorbet and biscotti to complete the meal.

Button mushrooms would also be fine here. This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Even easier: Use purchased pesto to help speed up the preparation.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

To complete the menu, serve seeded Italian breadsticks and a salad of radicchio and marinated artichoke hearts tossed with balsamic vinaigrette. Spumoni ice cream is a perfect ending.

Sugar snap peas, cucumber, tomatoes, green onions, parsley and mint combine with orzo pasta for a lovely warm-weather salad.