Spaghetti and Meatballs

The secret to forming meatballs is to keep your hands wet, which prevents the meat from sticking to your fingers. These meatballs, along with provolone cheese and your favorite sandwich trimmings, can also be stuffed inside a baguette or a sub.

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Pasta with Garlic and Olive Oil

At Italian restaurants they call this pasta aglio e olio, but no matter the name, it’s a quick and easy dish, great for a late-night supper when there’s really nothing in the pantry. If you’re lucky enough to have a loaf of bread or the ingredients for a Caesar salad, you have yourself a fine meal.

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Bouillabaisse with Rouille

Most recipes for bouillabaisse call for fish broth to be made as their first part of the recipe. If you are the type to make fish broth, you probably have a recipe for it; if not, no recipe I could include would induce you to make it. You can go to a good fish market or specialty store and purchase ready-made fish broth or substitute a mixture of two cups bottled clam juice and two cups water.

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Saffron Risotto with Pan-Broiled Fennel Shrimp

“When you are making a risotto, you should be in perfect harmony with yourself. You shouldn’t be nervous or angry. It’s a ritual that is going to give you so much pleasure later that it’s worth spending 15 or 20 minutes over a hot stove stirring very slowly… It’s the dish of romance. If you rush it, it’s never good. (Pino Luongo, A Tuscan in the Kitchen, Potter, 1988)

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Classic Lasagna

Although I didn’t eat lasagna until I was in my twenties and only made it for the first time when I was in my thirties, it represents comfort to me. While a bad lasagna can be heavy; a good one is enriching, warm, substantial and yet light.

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