pasta & rice

This pasta salad is prepared with mushrooms and peppers, with a poppy seed, tomato flavored dressing, and served chilled.

This is what was known as an square meal: meat, vegetables and milk or cheese.

Serve this Italian style casserole any time you can think. You cook and freeze so, one day you fancy a rest from the stove, the only thing you need to do is reheat and eat. Just use a red and white squared table cloth and you have the feel of the trattoria.

A casserole to freeze that will bring the warm Hawaii to your table.

Give an Italian air to that leftover roast or your favorite ham as in this fiesta frittata.

Ham and cheese, some spices, these are just smells and taste of home cooking.

If you make your own noodles spinach is easy to hide inside the drying pasta. But if you do not have time for that here is an easy butter sauce that will accomplish the same thing. Add your favorite cheese, and top with thick slices of pan seared steak..

When a paella is prepared for a large number of people and done on the campfire, as in this recipe, using yellow food coloring is more convenient than using saffron. Other ingredients can be added: squid, shrimp, mussels, clams, rabbit, peas or fresh baby broad beans. Substitute water with suitable broth for extra flavor.

Melon risotto can be prepared in the same way as butternut squash or pumpkin risotto. Substituting the traditional wine in a risotto with brandy gives this recipe a more interesting taste.

This is the timeless, classic white stock used in most countries as a base for soups and sauces. It is also good and comforting on its own.