Pasta/6 recipes

Halloween beef stew with orzo "maggots" kids love. Flour-coated stew beef browned with tomatoes, carrots, green beans, and thyme. Spooky fun, seriously good.

Dried porcini and tomato sauce folds earthy rehydrated mushrooms and their soaking liquid into a garlicky canned tomato base, then tosses it with fusilli. A deep, umami-rich vegetarian pasta dinner.

Spinach linguine tossed in a rich four-cheese sauce made with ricotta, mozzarella, fontina, and Parmesan. A lighter take on classic Italian quattro formaggi pasta.

Hunter's minestrone with cubed beef, kidney beans, pasta shells, and red wine simmered for four hours in three stages. A hearty, meaty Italian soup built for cold weather.

Note: red wine broth can be used in place of chicken

Gnocchi with chickpeas, butternut squash, and greens pan-sears pillowy gnocchi, then tosses them into a skillet of sage-scented squash, currants, garlic, and wilted spinach. A hearty vegetarian one-pan meal.

Seared chicken breasts nestled over penne in a garlicky white wine tomato sauce, blanketed with mozzarella, Asiago, and Parmesan and baked until golden and bubbly. One dish, one hour, six happy plates.

Homemade fresh pasta dough from scratch with flour, eggs, olive oil, and a splash of water. Hand-kneaded, machine-rolled pasta base for fettuccine, tagliatelle, lasagna, or any cut you want.

Crawfish Kowalski tosses wagon wheel pasta with crawfish tails, kielbasa, and a beer-spiked cream sauce with cayenne. A bold Cajun-Polish mashup ready in 40 minutes.

Knoepfle- Oder Spaetzleteig (Basic Spaetzle Dough) recipe

Three-cheese tortellini filling with ricotta, mozzarella, and cottage cheese, seasoned with mace, thyme, and garlic. Makes 6 cups and freezes beautifully for up to 3 months.

Chunky marinara sauce loaded with zucchini, mushrooms, celery, and red onion sauteed in balsamic vinegar. A no-oil vegetable-packed pasta sauce simmered in 40 minutes.

Slow cooker rosemary chicken with tomatoes, mushrooms, and garlic served over pasta. A set-it-and-forget-it Italian-inspired weeknight dinner.

A tasty Italian casserole made with ground beef, spinach and a variety of spices and cheeses.

Pasta with ricotta-walnut sauce blended from ricotta, yogurt, walnuts, garlic, and Parmesan with fresh herbs. A creamy, no-cook pasta sauce lighter than traditional Alfredo.

Hearty pasta and lentil soup with mushrooms, tomato paste, garlic, and ground ginger. A thick, protein-rich Italian-style soup that cooks in one pot.