Basil/4 recipes

Mayo-free potato salad with an olive oil and herb dressing, tossed with green pepper, celery, and scallions. Light, zesty, and great for summer cookouts.

Roasted red potato halves topped with a Dijon cream cheese spread, chopped black olives, scallions, and red bell pepper. An easy no-cook appetizer for parties.

Bread machine tomato herb bread made with tomato juice and sauce, oregano, basil, rosemary, and fennel. A savory, Italian-inspired loaf with a rosy crumb.

Pasta with red clam sauce made from fresh littleneck clams steamed in white wine and fish stock, then tossed with tomato, basil, and oregano. Light, briny, and ready in 30 minutes.

Italian sausage pizza with a garlic tomato sauce, fennel seeds, and a three-cheese blend of mozzarella, Gruyere, and Romano. A game day pizza with serious flavor.

Pasta with sauteed summer vegetables, garlic, fresh basil, and tomato, finished with Parmesan. A flexible, fast weeknight pasta built on what is in season.

Salad bar pizza is a vegetable-loaded deep-dish pie on whole wheat crust with broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, carrots, and red onion under mozzarella and Parmesan. Vegetarian, lower calorie.

Mom's best spaghetti sauce with Italian sausage, ground beef, slow-browned onions and garlic, tomato sauce and paste, simmered for hours into a deeply seasoned Sunday gravy. Choose your meat or use both.

Fusilli with vegetables: a fresh Italian pasta sauce of zucchini, plum tomatoes, garlic, shallots, and herbs simmered in olive oil. Summer garden produce tossed with corkscrew pasta and a shower of parmesan.

Italian sirloin stew with cubed sirloin, zucchini, tomatoes, and garlic in a basil-scented broth, finished with grated parmesan. Quick weeknight stew ready in 40 minutes.

Peppery arugula pesto with basil, pine nuts, black olives, lime juice and cumin. Bold cheese-free pesto for pasta, sandwiches or roasted vegetables.

Grilled eggplant Parmesan sandwich layers smoky charred eggplant, fire-roasted tomato, wilted spinach, and melty mozzarella-Parm on toasted whole wheat. A vegetarian open-face take on the Italian classic.

Golden flour-dredged chicken breast simmered in Italian plum tomatoes with mushrooms, peppers, onion, and oregano in an electric skillet. Served over spaghetti, this one-pan cacciatore is a reader favourite.

Stir-fried sirloin strips with bow-tie pasta, cherry tomatoes, mixed vegetables, fresh basil, and Parmesan. A 30-minute National Beef Cook-Off winning recipe.

A slow-simmered marinara built on three layers of tomato, a splash of red wine, Italian herbs, and just enough red pepper flakes to earn the name "zesty." Low-fat, feeds a crowd, and freezes like a champ.

Stuffed polenta with meat sauce: two layers of Parmesan polenta sandwiching a meaty tomato-basil sauce and mozzarella, baked hot until bubbly. A lighter Italian alternative to lasagna.