For this barley salad, pearl barley and black barley are tossed with pine nuts, chiles, cucumber, and olives. Serve the salad as starter or as a toothsome lunch.

Basmati rice is first cooked, mixed with apricots, onion, saffron, cinnamon, and then fried to get a nice crust. Pomegranate seeds give color and sassiness.

Meaty shrimp stud this creamy, oozing risotto. The recipe’s flavor is deep thanks to a shrimp stock, made with the shells, which enriches the risotto.

Clams and rice, a Croatian specialty, is simple to make. Clams and rice are tossed with olives and spooned into empty clam shells.

This spaghetti with red wine is made more like risotto than typical pasta. The cooked spaghetti is tossed in oil in the skillet while red wine is slowly added.

Linguine pasta, clams, mussels, langoustines, and shrimp are tossed in a light tomato-garlic sauce spiked with pepper flakes. A simple quick dinner.

Luxuriously broad strands of pasta, known as pappardelle, are all tangled up in a hearty bolognese sauce. The pasta is fresh while the sauce can be made in advance.

Fusilli pasta is tossed in a sauce rich with bufala mozzarella. The melted cheese creates strands as the fusilli is lifted, hence the telefono reference.

Potato gnocchi is tossed with sausage, tomato, peas, and smoked mozzarella for a hearty dish. The gnocchi is simple to make and can be frozen.

This pasta salad with tuna is tinted yellow by saffron. The pasta salad is easy to cook and can be made ahead. For the salad use big pasta for big effect.

Fettuccine pasta is tossed in a veal sauce filled with veal, tomatoes, and olives. Butter makes the veal sauce rich. You can use any long strand pasta.

So what if salmon isn’t from Italy? Cookbook author Guiliano Hazan is, and he says to go right ahead and toss chunks of the rich fish with pasta, tomatoes, and cream.

Penne pasta is tossed in a rich spinach and ricotta sauce. Use packaged spinach and whole-milk ricotta for best results. Serve the pasta and sauce at once.

A perky weeknight supper tossed together from five consummate pantry staples: skinny strands of quick-cooking angel hair pasta, lemon, cream, parsley, and booze.

Quinoa salad with pistachios and cranberries is an ideal holiday salad or side dish. The salad can be made ahead as the quinoa will remain fluffy.

This Asian noodle salad with peanut dressing is a mix of sweet and spicy. The noodles are tossed with tofu and sprouts and topped with the peanut dressing.

This refreshing seafood lasagna, filled with fish, shrimp and lots of pesto, is kind the lasagna recipe to serve year round–just change the seafood.

These pearl-like couscous are cooked in chicken stock for extra flavor and tossed with peas, mint, parsley, and lemon zest. A simple, easy sider dish.

Fusili pasta, bell peppers, celery, onions, olives, and pickles are tossed in a tangy dressing made from Greek yogurt. A perfect summer pasta salad.

Paper thin slices of curried beef and stir-fried onions and salsify sit on top of a pile of udon noodles. A rich fish broth completely the picture.