Italian

A sophisticated finale that's easier than pie. If you have a little extra time, you might make your own pastry shell.

Toasted baguette slices topped with purchased pesto or caponata make a quick starter; a salad of mixed greens and sliced red onions is perfect alongside the pasta. Offer lemon mousse for a refreshing finale. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

If you spend one afternoon in the kitchen, there will be cookies for everyone on your list. You'll need at least a four-quart bowl to mix the large amount of dough.

This dish is delicious warm, but it can also be prepared ahead, stored in a covered container and served at room temperature at a picnic. Either way, its terrific.

These not-too-sweet cookies are based on an old recipe seldom seen these days. Although the combination of almonds, honey and cinnamon is still a typical one, contemporary Neapolitan biscotti tend to be less aggressively flavored.

Porcini mushrooms smooth out the intense flavors of this traditional sauce of tomatoes, olives, anchovies and capers. Although puttanesca sauce is typically served with penne or spaghetti, fusilli holds the sauce better.

The Strait of Messina is a rich source for swordfish, which the Sicilians prepare in many ways. Here it is at its simplest: grilled and served with salmoriglio sauce. (In Sicilian, it is sammurigghiu sauce.) The words means "brine", a translation that does not convey the taste or texture of this cooked blend of olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and herbs. Serve with bread and pour a white wine, preferably Sicilian. For dessert, offer cannoli from the bakery.

Spicy crushed red pepper, rosemary and garlic enhance this main course. Uncork an Italian Barbera to match the menu's hearty flavors. For dessert, offer a compote of blueberries and sliced nectarines with crème fraîche (available at many supermarkets) or lightly whipped cream.

This easy zuppa di pesce is a staple of the anchovy packers of Mazara del Vallo on the northwestern coast of Sicily. It always comes with bread to soak up the juices.

For the crispiest cookies, slice the dough no thicker than a half inch. The biscotti keep well and look great wrapped in tinted cellophane tied with a silk ribbon or raffia, or packed into pretty holiday bags.

Gianduia is a classic Italian combination of chocolate and hazelnuts. If you can't find foil candy cups, buy twice as many paper ones and use two (one inside the other) per candy. (Doubling the paper cups makes a sturdier form.) Arrange the confections in holiday tins, or place on decorative trays, wrap in cellophane and tie with gold ribbons.

In Italy a no-cook pasta sauce is known as salsa cruda, and makes a wonderful one-dish dinner. In this version, the combination of artichokes, olives, capers, and lemon zest is not only beautiful, but bold in flavor.

Massimo's Aunt Enza has played an important role in my life as a born-again Tuscan. We often dine at her home on Sunday, for a traditional family lunch, prefaced by Enza's statement that she hasn't prepared anything. This means that there's nothing new on the table and that we're in for our usual treat of a Florentine meal. The main course will probably be what Enza calls magro, literally lean or fatless, a choice cut of beef used for roast beef, sliced thin, lightly sauced with meat juices, topped with whole brown cloves of garlic. Since Italian home cooks in the city rarely had ovens, meat is often roasted on the top of the stove. It's faster than oven-roasting, perfect for those who love rare roast beef. Turning the meat is the hardest part.

Malloreddus, the saffron-flavored pasta shaped like gnocchi, is a Sardinian specialty. For convenience, we used dried pasta of a similar shape and added saffron to the pasta cooking water.