pasta

I love this tart- the egg yolk runs over the pizza, making a delectable "sauce" of sorts that gets soaked up by the toppings and crust.

This is a play on a classic: peas, prosciutto, cream and pasta. I make a pasta with jalapenos, cream and prosciutto, and so I built this sauce the same way but used peas instead of jalapenos. Fresh mint added at the end, along with the peas, gives the dish a light, springy flavor that pairs well with the cream, prosciutto and cheese.

This recipe is for the butternut squash lover. It was inspired by a pasta dish that I had at an Italian restaurant in Charlottesville called Tavola (which is outstanding if you are ever in the area). Their version had less butternut squash and a little more cream. I love butternut squash, but if you don't have the same mild obsession that I do, only roast the squash and add it at the very end so it retains it shape. I love this dish both ways.

This is a very traditional dish from Italy's Puglia region, which is in the southern part of the country and the hot spot for culinary tours of Italy. The Puglians invented orecchiette, which means "little ears," and it's not uncommon to still see Italian nonnas (le nonne) making them by hand (a time-consuming task!). In Italian, this recipe is called "orecchiette con la cima di rapa e salsiccia.

Although I've always loved spätzle, it never occurred to me to try making it myself. A few years ago, I moved to Austria, where spätzle's widespread availability (on menus and in supermarkets) not only led me to consume it in shamefully large quantities, but also prompted me to learn how to produce it to ensure that after leaving Austria, I would never have to live without it.

I had a dish like this for a birthday dinner at Woodberry Kitchen in Baltimore, MD. It was an unusual choice for me, and just about everyone else at the table had local seafood. The dish just spoke to me, and it was perfect -- not too cheesy and not too dry. It was definitely kale-y, and it had just the right amount of crispiness on top. I played around with it all summer trying to replicate the dish, and this is what I came up with.

The first time I made this was a happy accident—I had intended to put melted butter, salt, and pepper on the cut squash for roasting, but I had a major mental lapse and accidentally put turbinado sugar on the squash instead. Fortunately, I loved it, and this is how I make it now.

Ricotta gnudi with creamy, garlicky vodka sauce with a nice layer of melted mozzarella. These dumpling-like gnocchi are made with ricotta instead of potatoes. They're super easy and fast! If this dish doesn't bring the family running to the table, not sure what will!

This is not your average macaroni salad.

My mom wasn't a baker, but she did make gnocchi -- and, on occasion, savory phyllo pastries. I have a hard time thinking of one specific technique because many of the things I do now, I probably learned by simply being in the room, observing, listening, and doing. Cleaning as you go was a pretty big one, though! With this recipe, I remember being taught about gently dropping the gnocchi into the pot of boiling water, but only on the sides. My Mom told me that this was one of the very first baby foods she made for me because they were so delicate. I make them now when I have a hankering for home. Serve them with sour cream, and you'll be at our Russian table.