This dish is ideal for freezing. Wrap well and freeze at the end of step 3. Thaw and continue to cook from step 4.

Welcome to another installment of My Family’s Favorite Recipes!

If my daughter had her way, we’d eat pasta at every meal. Lasagna, mac and cheese, chili mac–she’s not picky, she’ll devour any of them. About once a week I give in to her demands, and the dish I most often make is this one, which she calls “That Pasta with All the Vegetables and White Sauce” because I’ve never come up with a catchy name for it. It’s perfect because it fulfills her desire for noodles and my need for vegetables. In fact, it contains twice as many vegetables as pasta, a good thing in my opinion.

E got lucky this week because I made it twice. Since it’s always been one of those “throw in a little this and a little that until it tastes good” dishes, I didn’t have exact ingredient amounts, so I had to play with the recipe a bit to get to where it would work without my giving you vague instructions like “If it looks too dry, add more milk” or “Keep adding garlic until you repel vampires.” There’s still a little of that, but if you follow the basic recipe, you should come out with pasta and vegetables that are coated in a light, flavorful sauce that tastes surprisingly rich for being so low in fat. It’s one of those “home-cooking” dishes that’s good enough to serve to company.

The recipe below uses a full pound of pasta and makes a lot; besides being hearty eaters, my family likes to have leftovers to fight over for the next day or two. If you’re cooking for one or two, you may want to make half a recipe, so I’ve made that easy for you by including a printer page for the 4-servings version of the recipe. And don’t miss the note on how to make this a Ridiculously Easy recipe, which, truth be told, is how I usually make it.

Although this dish takes a bit of work, the end result is well worth it. The mix of mushrooms provides a lovely depth of flavour and richness that more than makes up for the lack of meat.

Adding your favourite white fish and a liberal dose of chilli, parsley and garlic to spaghetti or whatever pasta you have in the cupboard will immediately transport you to the Amalfi Coast.

For the best presentation, choose a mix of red, yellow, green or orange bell peppers.

Mushroom Lasagna

Baked Spaghetti.

Shrimp and Scallop Lasagna.

Kushari is a simple yet healthful dish of pasta, rice and lentils widely sold in small Egyptian restaurants and roadside stands. With its full complement of protein, a spicy topping of tomato sauce and crispy fried onions, kushari is often considered the Egyptian national dish.

I have Egypt on my mind. While Egyptians have risen up like a tsunami that will not abate until it has destroyed the Mubarak regime in its wake, all I can do is follow the news. While history is being made on the streets of Cairo and Alexandria, all I can do is write about my favorite Egyptian street food. But Egypt is also on my mind for another reason. The pictures below are from three weeks ago when my Egyptian friend Yasmin invited a few of us to lunch to learn how to make Koshary just a few days before she was about to leave for Egypt for a month-long vacation.  A few hours ago, she posted a quick note on Facebook to let us know that she is fine. Relieved, it struck me how today events around the world affect me in a much more personal way than even ten years ago. And in my small way, writing this post inexplicably makes me feel closer to the people of Egypt.

Koshary is one of the ultimate street foods. Just like Egyptians from many walks of life have come together to create the perfect storm of a protest, the many layers in this humble dish come together to make a very satisfying dish. It is affordable, filling and fairly healthy though loaded with carbs. While the various ingredients take time to assemble, it is simple to make. Rather than the pyramids or the sphinx, this dish is one of my favorite things from my trips to Egypt.

There are many recipes for Koshary and some include toppings that others don’t. It is up to you to decide which of the toppings to include although I highly recommend keeping all of them. Koshary is typically served with a tomato sauce and a garlic sauce. Yasmin combined the two sauces for ease. This recipe serves 4. The various ingredients could be prepared ahead of time and brought to room temperature or warmed before serving.

Here’s a recipe we’ve used for years. My daughter, a senior in college, is addicted to it. While it isn’t like the Kraft thing, we find it good on potatoes, rice, or steamed broccoli and cauliflower as well as on noodles.

Boil the noodles. (We prefer those multicolored spiral noodles, as they hold more sauce.)

This recipe is adapted from what I consider the best vegan cookbook -Vegan Vittles by Joanne Stepaniak. I assume you could substitute larger pieces of TVP, or tofu strips, or tempeh for the seitan strips. I can find stir fry strips (made of seitan) at Whole Foods. You can always make your own seitan from vital wheat gluten, but that is a whole other topic.

This creamy stroganoff is perfect over rice, toast, or egg-free noodles. Just add a crunchy tossed salad to complete your meal.

I tried this recipe tonight. It seemed like it would be somewhat of a comfort food. It turned out pretty good. My kids – even the pickiest ones loved it and even asked for more. There is a small amount of fat in this recipe from the vegan cheese (2 grams per serving – 1 serving = 30 gr). I’m hoping this tiny amount doesn’t upset anyone. I apologize in advance if it does. It’s so hard to find recipes that are virtually fat free that my kids like – this one fit the bill so I thought I’d share it. If you try this I hope you like it.

This dish is a great way to use up leftover pasta. If you're using a long noodle such as fettuccine or linguine, chop them up before adding them. Most other shapes can be added whole.

Rather than providing a recipes for an actual dish today, I offer up a classic Italian sauce to be used on the pasta of your choice. This sauce would also be a fitting finish for just about any seafood or chicken.

Three of my favorite things - pasta, bacon, and scallops - in one dish? I'll have two servings, please. I use olive oil instead of bacon fat to decrease the amount of saturated fat in this recipe, but feel free to use the fat produced when frying the bacon if your diet will allow.

This recipe is great because it doesn’t require any ingredients you can’t get at a regular grocery store. Even meat eaters like this one, and it’s very hearty.

Cook the pasta. Saute the onions and garlic until soft. Add the carrots & parsnips and saute about 5 minutes, add the rest of the vegetable (you can vary these to what you like or have on hand). Cook for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes & juice, broth, paprika, soy sauce, herbs, beans and cooked pasta. Cook until veggies are tender (about 10-15 minutes.) Take a bit of the sauce from the stew and mix with cornstarch. Add this mixture back to the stew and cook for a few more minutes until the sauce thickens.

This is pretty hearty and easier to make than the long list of ingredients implies.

Spray large skillet with cooking spray. Saute onion, mushrooms, garlic, and rosemary until tender, about 5 to 8 minutes.

Add spinach and broth to skillet; heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until spinach is wilted, 5 to 8 minutes

Stir in beans and cook until broth is evaporated, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir bean mixture into pasta. Add half of cheese (if desired), and the pine nuts/almonds. Season to taste with salt. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.

You won’t fool non-vegans with this, but if you’re used to nutritional yeast “cheese” sauces, you’ll love this soy-free dish.

This is for one very generous serving, so obviously, you multiply it by however many servings you want to make:

Last night I had the pleasure of having dinner with a group of people taking a Civil Rights Tour through the South. The menu for the night was barbecued pork sandwiches and pork-and-beans, the idea being to give them a little taste of local cuisine (which revolves around pork, apparently). The only problem: Several of the 30 participants were vegetarian. When the planners of the dinner realized this, a call went out for vegan dishes, and I was happy to oblige with my potluck standard, Easy Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna.

I’ve been making this recipe for years, and I can’t bring myself to change it. I keep thinking I should do something to fancy it up, but it’s my daughter’s all-time favorite food, so I never want to risk ruining a batch. (This is a kid who has written several essays this year about her love for lasagna; her hero is Garfield.) Recipes for vegan lasagna abound, and I’m sure you can find fancier, richer tasting versions, but for sheer easiness of preparation and basic yumminess, this one can’t be beat. You don’t need to pre-cook the lasagna noodles, and you can make it super-easy by using jarred spaghetti sauce.

There’s no need to pre-cook the pasta in this easy recipe!

This is a great quick meal. To make the sauce richer, use more soy milk and less water.

P.S. I like recipes that make a LOT. We’re big on leftovers here. But this recipe halves easily for people who don’t want to make so much.

This recipe also works well with sea scallops. If you use the sea scallops, cut them in half before adding them to the pot. I have not yet tried using lobster in this recipe, but I see no reason why the finished product would not be excellent.

The combination of hot sausage and simply seasoned spinach is something a little different in lasagna form, but also uncomplicated and soothing for a Sunday supper. Be sure to taste the drained spinach for seasoning before you assemble the lasagna; the seasoning is important so that the spinach layers can stand up to the sausage. Serve this lasagna with a green salad, a bottle of red wine, and some piping hot garlic bread.

This is so delicious and satisfying.  It tastes exactly like the real thing.  I think if I were eating this at someone's house, I might have to ask if there were meat in it.  Serve with one pound of pasta of your choice.

There are few foods in this world that I love as much as pasta carbonara. And though I've tried a few different variations over the years, I'm still partial to this very simple version I wrote about nearly four years ago. So what are we doing here with a recipe from Gourmet, which features a poached egg? Well, while I might enjoy that raw egg yolk perched on top of a mound of pasta, some people don't. When I decided to make a version for my mom, she appreciated the presentation. Luckily, this version seemed to be even more hedonistic than the other version.

Although there is always a whole egg present in that other version of carbonara, there is something about seeing it here that makes it seem heavier and even more filling. Of course, the ease of this dish will depend completely on your egg poaching skills. I definitely wouldn't consider myself an expert at the process. Luckily, this great slideshow is easy to follow and worked perfectly for me.

The recipes in At Elizabeth David's Table make it very clear that David was writing for an audience who possessed a sense of comfort in the kitchen. She doesn't hold her readers' hands through each step of the dish. By assuming this level of skill in her readers, David was able to share simpler dishes such as this four-ingredient Penne with Mascarpone.

With a basic understanding of perfectly al dente pasta and the right sauce consistency, this dead simple and insanely delicious penne dressed with creamy mild mascarpone, butter, and a sprinkling of Parmesan and walnuts is the kind of ten-minute meal that all of us should keep in our back pockets. It's rich, creamy, and comforting (in the same way mac and cheese is) yet elegant and exotic enough to serve to a discerning group of dinner guests.

If this white-on-white plate is a little plain for your tastes, add a light shower of nutmeg or even a few leaves of chopped thyme or sage.

I first learned about Annabel Karmel when my son was little. My friend and I would get together and make batches of Annabel's home-made baby food recipes together to share and freeze, while the dads and kids played. Now my kids are older (7 and 4) and we found Annabel's book "Mom and Me Cookbook"

The pages are easy to read and fun to look through and they have inspired my kids to pick the book up off the shelf and select recipes by themselves, and make them with just a little supervision. And as you know, when kids cook it themselves, they are more inclined to eat (and love!) it, even if they've never tried it before. The recipe here is simple but delicious - it was gobbled up by the kids; my husband had the leftovers on a veggie-ball sub. Annabel Karmel is enthusiastic and her recipes are both very healthy and delicious. This is a great starter book to get your kids into the kitchen and do something fun and useful together. Despite the title, there's no reason why it can't be for Dad and Me or Grandma and Me, etc.

I've probably watched the Egypt episode of Anthony Boudain's No Reservations at least four times at this point, but this is the first time that watched him eat koshary and decided I had to have it.

To be sure, the dish sounds slightly off. You might have read about it here on SE last month. It's a combination of rice, lentils, and pasta (!), which is then topped with a vinegary tomato and garlic sauce, and caramelized onions. It looks slightly ridiculous, but apparently it's one of the most popular dishes in Cairo, and for some reason last night it just sounded absolutely perfect. Sometimes you need a steak, and other times you need a carb fest like this one.

Unfortunately, it was hard to find a recipe that looked similar to the one mentioned on the show. Eventually I had to forge a challenging recipe alliance between one of the most comically written Gourmet pieces ever written and The Vegetarian Resource Group. It's a really easy recipe, even if there are loads of different components. The trick is that you have to cook everything separately, and then combine at the last second. It helps to start with the onions, then just let them patiently cook over low heat for the full hour, and remember to stir them from time to time.

You could use the garlic breadcrumbs in this recipe to top whole flat mushrooms before baking in the oven to make a light snack or starter.

I love eating pasta. And I love eating pasta in France, because they do Italian with such French flare. Ratatouille over rigatoni. Roquefort cream sauce over ribbons of pappardelle. Brick-red pistou slathered on spaghetti. It's just so good, and somehow, so French!
This pasta dish is sort of a giant mushroom duxelles piled on top of fettuccine. I always write that crème fraîche is a magic ingredient (and it's even more magic when you can make it in one easy step!), because it just refuses to separate. You can do anything to it, and it's completely resilient.
Throw some mushrooms in this dish and you have an instant cream sauce, full of woodland flavors with the shallots, garlic, and thyme, that wraps itself around the expectant pasta. I love this dish because it's earthy and easy. Perfect as a side next to some seared and sliced steak. Or on its own with a drizzle of truffle oil.

I spent a good portion of the last month making eggplant parmesan for the Food Lab article on the subject. This left me with a few things: lots of canned tomatoes, plenty of Parmigiano-Reggiano, a slew of eggplants, and a great microwave-then-cook technique for getting the most out of their texture.
That's about all there is to say about this recipe, other than the fact that it takes about 20 minutes to throw together, and is really good to boot.

Freeze-Ahead Lasagna Primavera (Adapted from Everyday Food)

The sweet pungency of onion is the whole story of this sauce. To draw out its character, the onion is first stewed very slowly for almost an hour, until it is meltingly soft and sweet. Then it is browned to bring its flavor to a sharper, livelier edge. If you have no problems in using lard, it will considerably enrich the sauce. You may, however, use butter as a substitute. For 4 t o 6 servings.

For the best presentation, choose a mix of red, yellow, green or orange bell peppers.

After many a trial, I believe I've cracked the secret of a perfect, cheesy lasagne. Serve with a green salad - it's vital. Serves six.

Here's a really important question: why doesn't chili-mac always come with extra cheesy-goo?
It's easy to do. Just make a simple ground beef chili (you can take or leave the canned beans as you see fit), add it to a simple stovetop mac and cheese (evaporated milk makes that really easy), then bake the whole thing off with extra cheese.

Also, my doctor says I need to start watching my cholesterol, by which I assume he means that I need to start watching to make sure it doesn't rise too much. I've just realized that this week, I'm working on three different recipes where the main ingredients are beef and cheese (the other two are coming up later!). So Doc, I'll get right on that watching thing next week.

Amalfi Calamari Pasta

Preheat oven to 350. Have prepared a 2 qt casserole. In a large saucepan, start water boiling. When water boils, add between 1/2 pound and 1 pound pasta of your choice, depending on how saucy you l...

Tori, these two recipes were forwarded to me some time ago from an article in the NY Times, if I remember correctly. Dana was on the hunt for them a bit ago, so he can probably tell you whose recip...

Traditional Mexican cooking includes an entire category of rice and pasta dishes known as "sopas secas" or "dry soups." No one is sure how this name came into being, but it might have been because the Aztecs didn't understand the Spanish habit of putting rice and noodle into soups ("wet soups") as well as serving them as side dishes ("dry soups"). Traditionally the sopa seca was served as a separate course following the (wet) soup at the main meal, but nowadays they are also served as side dishes and occasionally as the main course.

This pasta dish is a real winner -just sorry my dearly beloved isn't a fan of pasta... I have to get my pasta fix on Monday evenings when he goes to his Rotary meeting. No matter .. this one is tried’n true and is great.. hope you enjoy. The recipe also freezes well.

In addition to its unusual combination of flavors and textures, this dish is a cinch to prepare.

Cleaning fresh squid can be off-putting, but fortunately frozen cleaned squid is readily available and is perfectly acceptable in this recipe.

There are certain dishes everyone should know how to make; Spaghetti & Meatballs is one of them.

For the best texture, don't overwork the meat mixture and use Parmesan that's ground to a fine powder ( use the processor or the rasp side of a box grater). For more heat, add 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper to the sauce.

But last night, I realized what I did have: makings of a roasted tomato pasta sauce. I took that last torpedo onion and sliced it thin, tossed that with some olive oil, then halved the tomatoes equato...

Hello All. Having a dinner party? This dish is simple, but very impressive, and just perfect for summer. I hope you enjoy this one.. it's from a Delicious magazine! You might like to add a few Snow Peas.. makes it even more special.

Now that we're home, I'd like to keep enjoying that pasta, but without the accompanying tightening of my Levis. Fortunately, there's Mushroom "Bolognese" from Eating Well.
Easy to make and blessedly light, the sauce is a hearty, veggie-packed weeknight alternative to meat-heavy ragú. The flavor deepens after a few nights in the fridge, and a sprinkling of parmesan gives it even more depth.

Rigatoni with Shrimp, Calamari and Basil

Low-fat evaporated milk makes a lightened up cheese sauce for the pasta and vegetables in this 30-minute dinner.

Use this unusual sauce to add intense tomato flavor to any pasta.

Whip up a superhealthy vegetable spag bol for an easy meal

A low fat, fail-safe pasta dish that will proves that it's just as easy to whip up a meal as it is to turn on the microwave

Pesto is traditionally made with basil, pine nuts, garlic, Parmesan, and olive oil. Here, the classic Italian sauce is re-imagined with corn in place of the basil. The finished dish has a creamy richness that's reminiscent of carbonara

I've just recently gotten into burrata, a mozzarella-like cheese, which oozes luxuriously when you cut into it. I found out about the cheese after seeing it pop up on numerous restaurant menus, usually tossed into tomato salads. [What?! You mean you didn't read about it here on SE, Nick?!? Hmmph. ;) —The Mgmt.] Luckily, it also works wonderfully in this pasta recipe adapted from Local Lemons. It slowly melts atop the warm dish, lovingly coating the pasta

Quick Spaghetti and Meatballs (Adapted from Everyday Food)

I thought I'd start out the week making a classic dish using two nontraditional ingredients that seldom (if ever) make their way into my kitchen, brown rice noodles and ground turkey. This recipe for Turkey-Spinach Lasagne from The Gloriously Gluten-Free Cookbook is one of the only recipes that I'll be sharing this week that calls for a gluten-free substitute—in this case the brown rice pasta.

Spicy Sausage, Bean and Cheese Nachos (Adapted from Everyday Food).

Turkey Bolognese (CL)

Whole Wheat Rotini with Spicy Turkey Sausage and Spinach (Adapted from CL)

Marinara derives from the Italian word for sailor, marinaro. Due to these origins I have seen many people say that marinara sauce must contain something from the sea, usually anchovies. Actually this is not the case, the origins of marinara sauce are that it is the sauce that they made in Naples for the sailors when they returned from the sea. It is very important to master making a good marinara sauce. Not only is it delicious on it's own over pasta, but as you will see by browsing this site it is a good starting point for many other recipes.

Baked Bow-Tie Pasta with Mozzarella (Adapted from Everyday Food)