Italian

This will be a hit with fans of blue cheese. It's so rich that small portions would also be great as a starter or side dish.

Start this at least one day before serving.

Cloves add a little extra holiday flavor.

These delicious ravioli come from the hot Buenos Aires restaurant Social Paraiso. Freezing the Brie for 20 minutes will make trimming the rind easier.

You'll feel positively Continental after your first taste of these tartlets, made with the thoroughly French combination of prunes and Armagnac. The creamy Italian mascarpone filling is just the thing to mellow out the sophisticated flavors.

There's lots of bold flavor in this hearty stuffing, which, though inspired by a classic Italian combination, happens to work in perfect concert with everything on the American holiday table. Baking it in a wide dish yields plenty of crusty top for everyone.

This classic Italian trio never gets old, because it works so well: The saltiness of Parmigiano-Reggiano accentuates the sweetness in the popular winter squash while earthy sage rounds it all out.

This bolognese lacks one traditional main ingredient—meat. However, with hearty vegetables, you'll hardly know it's missing.

We've added spinach to this classic Italian soup to create a dish that's both filling and delicious.

Hearty ingredients load this quick Italian dinner with spicy, cheesy flavor.

This soup combines two separate recipes attributed to the agriculturalist and linguist Varro. As a remedy it could be drunk to aid the digestion, and it also served as a soup with the chicken included. I choose to leave the meat in, to give some texture to the soup. The dish is quite unusual in not using fish sauce. The sweet/savoury balance is surprisingly good.

This super-easy, no-cook dessert tastes like the ultimate Creamsicle.

Hearty and full of flavor, these open-face egg sandwiches (large crostini) are even great for dinner.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. To read Epicurious's review of the cookbook, click here. This giant round of crisp cookie topped with large clump of streusel is a specialty of Mantua, Italy. It's perfect served with a bunch of grapes at the end of a dinner party. Set it in the center of the table and let guests break off pieces.

This creation from Salvatore Marino, chef at Il Grano in Los Angeles, is the perfect finger food: tasty and healthy.

Meaty, sweet squid steaks offer a seafood variation of chicken francese.

It's worth seeking out fresh cheese ravioli. They will make this meal special.

Here's a hearty vegetable soup that doesn't take as long to make as the classic but is much better than what you'll find in a can.

Make this filling ahead of time; it freezes well and you'll have enough to create four batches of Alan Tardi's delicate <epi:recipe link="" id="235965">agnolotti</epi:recipe>.