2,500 italianne recipes

Steamed cherrystone clams in a white wine, garlic, and butter broth loaded with a full dozen garlic cloves, scallions, and Italian herbs. A punchy seafood starter served with crusty bread.

Peg's many bean soup simmers a pound of mixed dried beans with pork, hot Italian sausage, peppers, carrots, and grated potato that thickens the broth naturally. A rib-sticking, two-hour pot of soup.

Homemade pizza pockets stuffed with sautéed SPAM, green pepper, onion, mushrooms, pizza sauce, and Parmesan, baked in bread dough until golden. Kids and grown-ups both go crazy for these handheld pockets.

Grilled sirloin tip kabobs with zucchini, yellow squash, red pepper, and onion marinated in Italian dressing. Served over bright lemon-parsley rice for a colorful dinner for two.

Chicken is coated with Italian dressing, then baked with assorted vegetables. It's an easy and tasty dish that's also good for you.

A quick and easy flavorful cream sauce studded with bits of sausage, peas that's perfect for your favorite pasta.

Antipasto pasta salad with rotini, roasted red peppers, marinated artichoke hearts, Muenster cheese, mushrooms, red onion, and fresh basil in a low-fat Italian dressing. A cold make-ahead side for potlucks and picnics.

Grilled sausage kabobs with bratwurst, Italian sausage, kielbasa, and new potatoes basted in a bacon-beer BBQ sauce. Three sausage varieties on one skewer for the ultimate cookout.

Rice with black beans, corn, plum tomatoes, green chiles, cilantro, and scallions. Low-fat, vegan, and ready in 40 minutes. A Southwestern side that does it all.

Low-fat linguine with greens, potato, garlic, hot pepper, and tomatoes simmered in vegetable stock. An Italian-inspired pasta loaded with wilted greens and tender new potatoes, no added oil.

Plum tomato tart on crisp phyllo layers with Dijon mustard, Parmesan, and fresh thyme-parsley-garlic oil. A shatteringly light French-style appetizer with dramatic tomato mosaic presentation.

Spicy Italian sausage and lean beef simmer with tomatoes, mushrooms, and balsamic vinegar beneath a Parmesan-spiked potato crust for a hearty British classic with Italian flair.

Whole hard-shell crabs simmered in a garlicky tomato sauce with red pepper flakes, cracked and tossed over spaghetti. Messy, hands-on, and worth every napkin.

Roasted vegetable soup with garlic blends caramelized eggplant, onions, peppers, tomatoes and roasted garlic into a velvety pureed base, finished with diced vegetables for texture. Vegetarian and full of smoky depth.

A fast sweet-and-sour chicken pasta salad: a pasta salad dressing mix spiked with soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar, then tossed with cooked chicken, crisp snow peas, red pepper, and Parmesan. A quick no-cook main-dish salad.

Alaskan spot prawns simmered with cannellini beans, garlic, rosemary, and Roma tomatoes, finished with extra virgin olive oil. Rustic Italian-coast cooking with sweet head-on prawns.