Pasta

At my house, we never have just a dish of pasta. It is always a nice dish of pasta, as in, "Tonight I'm going to make a nice dish of pasta with red clam sauce. " I picked up that turn of phrase from my Italian mother, who obviously translated it from the Italian: "un bel piatto di pasta. " The fact is, pasta is nice in more ways than I can count. Right now, pasta's nicest feature undoubtedly is its economical value. When was the last time you paid a couple of dollars, give or take a few cents, for a pound of any other food?

Pasta carbonara — richly cheesy, creamy and studded with crisped pancetta — is easily one of the most comforting of pasta dishes. The only trouble is, with the onset of warmer weather we tend to crave salads more than steaming bowls of pasta. So for this recipe, we decided to have it both ways. We borrowed the key ingredients from pasta carbonara — right down to the eggy sauce and savory pancetta — but remade them as a picnic-worthy pasta salad. Every bit as delicious as the traditional dish, but far more refreshing...

Descriptions of Range, the latest creation from "Top Chef" alumnus Bryan Voltaggio, make the Chevy Chase Pavilion location sound more like an ocean liner than a restaurant. Three hundred seats! Thirty cooks! Nine food stations! Did you know Range also stocks two master sommeliers ? The last detail is offered by one of the title holders, who proudly tells her customers the claim is shared only with the fabled French Laundry in Napa Valley. Few restaurants have been as eagerly awaited as Range, the first foray...

Like many vegetable lovers, I've experienced mustard greens mostly as a salad ingredient. Those pungent little leaves give a nice punch to what can otherwise be as mild as, well, lettuce. But they're also becoming a favorite ingredient in heartier dishes, especially because they're available at farmers markets most, if not all, of the year. That same spicy flavor that sparks up a salad can add life to a quick pasta dish, in which mustard greens perform like a cross between spinach and broccoli rabe, with all the tenderness of the...

4 to 5 main-course servings Heat 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil and 1 tablespoon finely chopped pancetta or bacon in the pot until the meat sizzles , then add 1 bunch thinly sliced scallions ,2 diced carrots and 3 diced potatoes . Stir in 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika ,1/4 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika and a generous pinch cayenne pepper ; stir to coat the vegetables....

Like many vegetable lovers, I've experienced mustard greens mostly as a salad ingredient. Those pungent little leaves give a nice punch to what can otherwise be as mild as, well, lettuce. But they're also becoming a favorite ingredient in heartier dishes, especially because they're available at farmers markets most, if not all, of the year. That same spicy flavor that sparks up a salad can add life to a quick pasta dish, in which mustard greens perform like a cross between spinach and broccoli rabe, with all...

It's hard to imagine that Italy — a country thoroughly explored, not to mention plundered, by warriors, historians, artists, scholars, tourists and food lovers — has secrets left to yield. And yet, that must be part of the allure. Every time I return, I am struck by something that eluded me before: a hidden garden or fountain or an unfamiliar cobbled back street in an otherwise familiar town. Down such a street, you can hear the clatter of plates and cutlery, and smell the afternoon meal wafting from someone's...

In his memoir, " Heat ," author Bill Buford fulfills every food lover's dream and heads to Italy to learn to make pasta. There, in the town of Porretta, he is told to sit and watch. "Watching is good," his instructor, Betta, tells him every day for 10 days before she lets him pick up a piece of dough. "That was how I learned as a child: hours and hours, watching my aunts. " This is not the philosophy at La Vecchia Scuola Bolognese , a kind of boot camp for aspiring pastamakers, or...

The kitchen in Bryan Voltaggio's previous home was small. It had an electric oven, bisque-colored appliances and such a dearth of cabinet space that most of his cooking equipment was stored in a free-standing cabinet in another room. The kitchen in his home today? Well, it's much different. Earlier this year, Voltaggio, 35, moved his family of four to a five-bedroom house just down the road in Frederick. Not surprisingly, the kitchen was one of the main attractions for the chef.

Dear Readers: Did you know there are certain FOODS seniors should avoid because of health risks? According to the Food and Drug Administration Web site ( www.fda.gov ), if you are a senior or care for a senior, you might not realize that you need to be extra cautious about: * Raw sprouts, such as alfalfa, clover and radishes. * Refrigerated pates or meat spreads. * Refrigerated smoked seafood, unless it is an ingredient in a cooked dish such as a casserole. * Raw or unpasteurized milk and...

Descriptions of Range, the latest creation from "Top Chef" alumnus Bryan Voltaggio, make the Chevy Chase Pavilion location sound more like an ocean liner than a restaurant. Three hundred seats! Thirty cooks! Nine food stations! Did you know Range also stocks two master sommeliers ? The last detail is offered by one of the title holders, who proudly tells her customers the claim is shared only with the fabled French Laundry in Napa Valley. Few restaurants have been as eagerly awaited as Range, the first foray...

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And so another drizzly day dawns. A good excuse for you to stay in, curl up and enlighten yourself with the latest from Food. Start with Bonnie Benwick' s piece on Mo Rocca , who has parlayed the skill of not cooking into his own TV show. In his Cooking for One column, Joe Yonan tells us what single chefs serve themselves when they're not cooking for a crowd. And Smoke Signals columnist Jim Shahin introduces us to smoked olive oil . He used to be a skeptic, but now — well, you'll have to read it for yourself.

Ingredients Salt, for the pasta cooking water 1 pound dried spaghetti 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil, or as needed 1 large onion, chopped (1 1 / 2 to 2 cups) 1 medium green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and cut into small dice 1 bunch (6 or 7) scallions (trimmed), white and all green parts, cut into small pieces 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 to 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning blend, preferably Slap Ya Mama, plus more as needed (see headnote) 2 (about 12 ounces)

Ingredients 1 pound zucchini, preferably small to medium (3 medium, 4 or 5 five small), cut into 3 / 4 - to 1-inch chunks 1 large sweet onion (12 ounces), cut into 1-inch chunks 3 tablespoons olive oil Salt Freshly ground black pepper Finely grated zest and freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon (1 or 2 teaspoons zest, 3 to 4 tablespoons juice) 8 ounces (31-40 count) raw shrimp, peeled and deveined (6 ounces after peeling) 8 ounces dried shaped pasta, such as shells or cut rigatoni ...

Ingredients 12 ounces (about 2 1 / 4 cups) all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon semolina flour, plus more for the work surface and for rolling the pasta 1 / 2 teaspoon fine sea salt 7 ounces beaten egg (4 large eggs) 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil Steps Place the flour, semolina and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse several times to combine the ingredients. Add the eggs all at once and process for 30 seconds, drizzling the oil through the opening in the lid. The dough should look like coarse, wet...

The pasta carbonara at Nicaro, a chic new Silver Spring eatery, satisfies two of my self-imposed life edicts that are seemingly at odds with each other. The decadently creamy, cheese-laden strands of pasta (oh yeah, there's bacon, too) fall under my "reward yourself" mantra, while the unexpected slivers of crunchy haricots verts hiding among them fulfill my eat-more-green-stuff resolution. However you justify it, the dish is worth trying at home. Executive chef and owner Pedro Matamoros, whose menu at Nicaro changes weekly, notes that...

And so another drizzly day dawns. A good excuse for you to stay in, curl up and enlighten yourself with the latest from Food. Start with Bonnie Benwick' s piece on Mo Rocca , who has parlayed the skill of not cooking into his own TV show. In his Cooking for One column, Joe Yonan tells us what single chefs serve themselves when they're not cooking for a crowd. And Smoke Signals columnist Jim Shahin introduces us to smoked olive oil . He used to be a skeptic, but now — well, you'll have to read it for...

For a cook, spending the morning in the White House vegetable garden and the afternoon learning how to make pasta from cookbook author Domenica Marchetti adds up to a perfect day. I was never very good at making fresh pasta. In my days as a restaurant chef, it was common practice to buy from a purveyor. If it was to be filled, I'd make the filling, he'd pick it up and return the product to me the next day. To me, it was like pizza or croissants: Something made infinitely better by other people.

Ingredients 8 ounces dried shaped pasta, such as cavatappi, fusilli or mini-farfalle 2 cups homemade or no-salt-added chicken or vegetable broth 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 to 2 cups broccoli florets, carrot coins, cubed butternut squash or frozen peas 1 cup whole milk 1 1 / 2 cups two- or three-cheese blend, such as cheddar, mozzarella and Monterey Jack Steps Combine the pasta, broth and salt in the rice...