56 vegetarian italian recipes

Pomodori secchi imbottiti: sun-dried tomato "sandwiches" drizzled with garlic and red pepper-infused olive oil. A simple Italian antipasto with intense flavor.

Pasta arrabbiata with dried red chilies, six cloves of garlic, and tomato passata in olive oil. A spicy, stripped-down Italian classic with just seven ingredients.

Italian roast onions (cipolle arrositite) baked whole in their skins with olive oil until soft and golden. Three ingredients, hands-off, and versatile as a side or antipasto.

A bright Italian-style vegetable sauce with three sweet bell peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, and garlic, simmered in stock and tossed with pasta. Vegetarian, low-fat, ready in about 30 minutes.

Italian rice and endive soup with fresh tomatoes, carrots, and basil. A light vegetarian meal ready in 45 minutes, simmered in vegetable stock with curly endive for a pleasantly bitter depth.

Risotto is an Italian rice dish. It is made by briefly sautéing the rice in olive oil or butter, then adding a little bit of stock, stirring almost constantly until the rice absorbs the stock, then adding a bit more stock, stirring, adding, stirring, adding until it’s done. It usually takes between 20 and 30 minutes of stirring. When it’s done, the rice is cooked through and bound in a wonderful creamy sauce that is made as the starch leaches out of the rice grains and combines with the stock.

Italian chocolate nut cookies (mostaccioli) are dense, spiced cocoa cookies with chopped almonds and raisins on whole wheat flour. A traditional Calabrian holiday cookie with deep chocolate-clove flavor.

Spaghetti in a fresh tomato sauce brightened with orange juice, garlic, basil, and a dash of hot sauce. A simple vegetarian pasta with an unexpected citrus twist.

Pasta fagiole with cannellini beans, tomato, and aromatics. The classic Italian pasta and bean one-pot dinner for eight, budget-friendly and filling.

Ligurian caviar is an Italian olive paste spread blended with capers and red pepper flakes. A briny, spicy vegetarian crostini topping that keeps in the fridge for two weeks.

A Roman-style spicy bruschetta with fresh parsley, basil, garlic, and red pepper flakes in olive oil and red wine vinegar. No tomatoes here, just a punchy herb topping on grilled country bread. Vegetarian.

Condimento Pugliese: roasted red pepper spread with olive oil and red pepper flakes. A chunky Italian condiment for crostini, pasta, or bruschetta. Five ingredients, no cook.

Vegetable lasagna layered with zucchini, spinach, mushrooms, and a red wine tomato sauce. Make-ahead and lighter than meat lasagna, with cottage cheese standing in for ricotta.

A vegetable-packed white lasagna layered with a creamy pesto sauce, mashed white beans, mushrooms, peppers, eggplant, and spinach-ricotta. No tomato in sight, finished with a parmesan-breadcrumb crust.

Quick Italian mushroom and tomato pasta sauce with garlic, parsley, and marjoram cooked in olive oil. A 20-minute vegetarian sauce with a full pound of mushrooms.

Hearty lentil tomato sauce with dried lentils, fresh tomatoes, and Italian herbs simmered into a thick, protein-rich vegetarian pasta sauce. Meaty texture without the meat.