Pasta & Noodles

We love this dish on its own, but a sprinkling of Parmigiano Reggiano and fresh basil can be a nice addition. If you can get fresh ricotta, by all means use it here.

The combination of salty, sweet, crunchy, and smooth gives these confections a special place in my heart. That, added to the fact that they made an appearance at every bridge and mahjongg game my mother ever hosted, elevates their status to serious nostalgia food. You can find cans of Chinese chow-mein noodles in the Asian food section of the supermarket. The ones you want are cooked and ready to eat like crackers.

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 30 min

(Gnocchi di Spinaci e Ricotta) These gnocchi are also known in different parts of Tuscany as malfatti (badly made), ravioli nudi (naked ravioli) or topini verdi (little green mice). Gnocchi are among the oldest foods in Italy, and the spinach ones are a specialty of the Casentino, an area east of Florence where greens grow wild on the hillsides.

A comfort-food treat that's great for brunch. This version takes less time than most because the noodles aren't precooked.

An Italian dish that's great with brunch, or as a light lunch or appetizer on its own.

(Hasidic Caramelized Noodle Pudding) The Chmielnicki massacres in Poland in 1648, the apostasy of the false messiah Shabbetai Tzvi in 1666, the subsequent partition of Poland, and other problems shook the Jewish communities of eastern Europe. Some Jews found an answer in the freedom offered by the Enlightenment (Haskala in Yiddish). Others turned to Kabbalistic healers and miracle workers. One of these holy men was Israel ben Eliezer, commonly called the Ba'al Shem Tov (Master of the Good Name). By the time of his death in 1760, he had created a full-fledged religious movement known as Hasidism and, within a generation, the bulk of the Jews in central Poland, Galicia, and the Ukraine were Hasidim. Beginning in the late 1700s, groups of Hasidim began moving to the Holy Land in order to live a more fully religious life. They brought with them the traditions of eastern Europe, including their manner of dress and foods. It was among the Hasidim of Jerusalem that this distinctive noodle kugel, which features a tantalizing contrast of pepper and caramelized sugar, was popularized.

Whole-wheat spaghetti can replace the soba noodles used here.

Active time: 1 3/4 hr Start to finish: 2 1/2 hr

When fresh wide rice noodles are stir-fried, they are called fun. Fresh rice noodles have to be pulled apart and fluffed before cooking.

Buckwheat noodles give this classic spring pasta dish a nifty twist. Uncork your favorite Chardonnay.

For this traditional Asian fondue, raw strips of chicken are cooked quickly at the table in a pot of boiling broth. Guests then place the cooked chicken strips on lettuce leaves, add noodles and whatever garnishes they choose, roll up the leaves and complete the packages with a bit of the Sweet-and-Spicy Dipping Sauce. When all of the chicken has been eaten, divide the remaining broth among the guests.

Offer a salad of snow peas and sliced radishes in a ginger vinaigrette. End with oranges and almond cookies. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Noodles-which are staples in Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines and Myanmar (formerly Burma)-are showing up everywhere these days. Cutting vegetables in julienne style is a Western technique.

Some cooks may prefer to substitute more readily available angel's-hair pasta for the rice noodles called for in this recipe.