This hearty dish can be as spicy as you want, depending on whether you use sweet or hot Italian sausages. Serve with a Caesar salad.
Who needs canned tomato sauce? Ready in mere minutes, a dash of balsamic vinegar makes this budget-friendly spaghetti dish stand out from the rest.
Look for dried green lentils in bulk and specialty food shops. They are smaller than the more common brown lentil and have exceptional flavour and texture. This thick tomato sauce is a great place to use up a Parmesan rind: add it when adding the tomatoes.
You can prepare this dinner favourite in minutes with ingredients found in your pantry. Prepared pesto makes a great substitute for fresh basil when it is not in season.
Hearty ingredients make a simple and satisfying dish. Pancetta (Italian bacon) and Fontina cheese perk up the flavour.
Tender, Italian-style eggplant is best served with crusty sliced bread, perfect for cleaning the rich tomato sauce from your plate. Finish the meal with Hearty Romaine Salad (see recipe link below).
Mussels steam in about five minutes and are an excellent choice for a quick supper. You can often buy them (scrubbed clean with the beards mostly removed) in 2-lb (1 kg) bags in the fish section of the supermarket.
Perfect for a summer's eve, this dish is best served just slightly warmed or at room temperature.
