Turkey Tetrazzini, a creamy casserole perfect for using that leftover Thanksgiving turkey! Pasta baked in homemade cream sauce, with mushrooms, peas, Parmesan and diced turkey or chicken.

Pappardelle pasta in a creamy lemon sauce with asparagus, artichokes and prosciutto. With spring comes fresh asparagus, and all the ways I can think of to use it before it disappears.  On the grill, sautéed, steamed, in risotto ~ we love the stuff.  And this year, I made a creamy, dreamy pappardelle pasta with lemon, asparagus, …

Instant Pot Spaghetti with meat sauce, all in one pot. Use ground beef or turkey, your favorite marinara sauce and dinner is on the table in 30 minutes.

Cool Peanut Sesame Noodles, highly additive and flavorful rendition of Chinese cold noodles tossed in fresh toasted sesame and peanut butter sauce, with added crunchy vegetables. Cold sesame noodles are a favorite of mine that I forget to make very often.  In fact, I hadn’t made them in years until a few weeks ago.  With the …

Spaghetti with Bacon Sauce, simple and rustic version of the Italian classic all’Amatriciana, adapted from my dad’s Romeo Salta cookbook.

Full disclosure here ~ if I take my favorite jarred marinara sauce and doctor it up with browned ground beef, some onions and spices, Meathead thinks it’s the best pasta sauce he’s ever had.  And it’s good, but it’s not Bolognese ragù.  I’m not talking a quick 15 minute sauce here ~  this is a …

Pesto Cheese Stuffed Shells ~ pasta shells stuffed with creamy ricotta, Italian cheeses and basil pesto, baked in marinara sauce. I found myself staring at one of my last jars of homemade marinara, wondering what I should make.  Then I remembered a baked pasta dish I made years ago in Chicago.  I would come back …

Quick and easy weeknight pasta with bacon, onions and mushrooms, all in one pan and on the table in 30 minutes.

My great granddad’s Chicago-style Italian baked spaghetti, beef-mushroom sauce layered with cheddar cheese and spaghetti and baked in a casserole dish. Granddad’s Spaghetti, my favorite comfort food of all time.  This is a baked spaghetti dish that my great grandfather made, and my grandmother and mom and aunts continued to make it and pass down …

My mom’s lasagna recipe, classic Italian-American lasagna with ground beef ragù, cottage cheese and mozzarella. Comfort food that never disappoints!