Recipe Sifter

Green chili tamale pie layers seasoned ground beef and green chiles under a cheddar cornmeal crust that bakes up golden and crusty. Tex-Mex casserole comfort, all in one dish.

Cuban-style picadillo with capers, pimento-stuffed olives, burgundy wine, and a touch of nutmeg. Ground beef braised in a savory-sweet sofrito. Serve over rice with plantains.

Minced clams with a mixture of seasonings and a bit of hot sauce, topped with shredded mozzarella, this dip is excellent served warm with crackers.

Baked pizza sandwich layers a Bisquick batter base with seasoned ground beef, tomato sauce, mozzarella, mushrooms, and Parmesan, then crowns it with more batter for a pizza-style casserole.

Hearty lentil soup with potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, garlic, and oregano in chicken broth. A dump-and-simmer recipe that feeds 10 with almost no active cooking time.

Oysters Mosca: chopped fresh oysters cooked down with garlic, scallions, lemon, and Romano cheese, then spooned into puff pastry shells. The classic Italian-Creole New Orleans appetizer from the legendary Mosca's restaurant.

Bisquick beef pizza skips the yeast dough entirely with a quick biscuit-mix crust topped with seasoned tomato sauce, ground beef, peppers, and cheese. A 30-minute homemade pizza for busy weeknights.

Classic Italian-American lasagna with hot Italian sausage, a carrot-and-celery-studded tomato sauce, creamy ricotta filling, and stretchy mozzarella. A peppery weeknight crowd-pleaser.

Greek-style red snapper bakes fillets under red onion, fresh tomatoes, oregano, lemon juice and crumbled feta. A foil-covered Mediterranean fish dinner that flakes apart in 30 minutes.

Pizza soup with stewed tomatoes, pepperoni, mushrooms, green peppers, basil and oregano, topped with broiled mozzarella. All the flavor of pizza in a chunky bowl.

Stromboli stuffed with salami, capicola, provolone, and mozzarella, then rolled in pizza dough and baked golden. An Italian-American deli classic that slices clean for sharing.

A hearty ground beef and spinach casserole layered with cottage cheese and bubbly mozzarella in a rich tomato sauce with mushrooms. Like lasagna without the noodles.

Crispy phyllo triangles stuffed with seasoned ground chicken, rice, spinach, ricotta, black olives, and toasted pine nuts. Mediterranean flavors wrapped in shattering golden layers.

What a delicious meal! Had this lamb shanks for dinner, and we were all so pleased by how flavorful it was. Loved the fennel in the dish.

I use crushed Ritz crackers instead of bread crumbs and add 2/3 cup of shredded sharp Cheddar. A simple gravy to go along with the meatloaf can also be made using another packet of soup mix, 2 Tbs. flour and 2 cups of cold water. Simmer until thickened.

Use ground turkey to make meatballs, loaded with fresh veggies, and brown rice, this hearty soup is nutritious and delicious.