Casserole

Pasta Fazool is slang for the classic Italian pasta e fagioli (pasta and beans). This recipe includes Italian sausage and beef along with kidney beans and pasta. It's all topped with Fontina.

Root vegetables became a mainstay of the New England diet. The crops grew well during the summer and could be stored in barrels of sand or in root cellars to keep through the long winter. This spectacular casserole has potatoes, parsnips, turnips and carrots, and is sweetened with just a hint of pear. The pureed vegetables are swirled together in the baking dish to create a pretty marbled effect.

Margaritas and some guacamole with chips and/or vegetable "dippers" would start this Mexican-style dinner off right. Ladle out black bean soup to precede the tamale pie, and serve a Caesar salad with it. Finish by teaming lime sorbet with orange segments that have been marinated in tequila.

My grandmother Mignon Smith estimates that this tamale pie recipe is at least 40 years old. She's been making it for us for years.

Active time: 35 min Start to finish: 2 1/2 hr

I'm not sure if it was the casserole I disliked or the repetition of eating it many times in one week. By the third night, the whole family complained, to which my mother, Ruth, responded in amazement, "But it's from the James Beard cookbook!" To me, at 12 years old, that only meant I didn't like James Beard, whoever he was. — Nancy Hawley

Fresh rosemary enhances this terrific side dish from Il Radicchio in Washington, D.C.

Braised pork shoulder, spicy Italian sausage, and pancetta enrich the tomato sauce. Dried crushed red pepper kicks up the heat.