Asiago

There's no tomato or mozzarella on this flatbread. Instead, we have sausage, sweet bell peppers, and Asiago cheese, just one example of how you can devise a simple but original pizza by drawing on just a handful of ingredients.

Asiago frico — easy-to-make crispy cheese wafers — top this salad. Look for tender young spinach at the farmers' market. In some areas, what you find at the farmers' market may be cheaper than what's available at the supermarket. If you have a first-rate extra-virgin olive oil and some sea salt in your cupboard, here's a chance to show them off.

Unlike a traditional risotto, this easy side dish for the stew needs barely any stirring at all.

For these crisp cheese wafers, buy a six-ounce container of shredded Asiago cheese or a blend of Parmesan, Romano, and Asiago — you'll use the leftover cheese in the Mock Risotto .

With its tantalizing aroma of garlic, sesame, and Asiago cheese, this Middle Eastern flatbread may well be gone before you can even put it on the table.

This fun dish combines classic antipasto platter ingredients with pasta. If you're in a hurry, omit the sautéed mushrooms.

(SMACAFAM) The name of this dish means "hunger killer" in the dialect of the Trentino part of the northern region of Trentino-Alto Adige.

Made with spicy sausages and smoky grilled onion, these are not your standard burgers.

"During a vacation in Scottsdale, Arizona, my brother-in-law took me to his favorite restaurant, Cowboy Ciao," writes Linden Avery of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. "It serves a very colorful, delicious chopped salad called a Stetson. Could you get the recipe so I can re-create it at home?" This main-course salad is presented with the ingredients lined up in rows. For convenience, you could just toss the salad instead.

These hors d'oeuvres are light, flaky and absolutely addictive. They are also simple to prepare and make a big impression — just what you want in party food.

Serve with: Tomato salad and crusty semolina bread. Dessert: Amaretti cookies.

Roasting the garlic for the dressing sweetens it and softens its pungency. By the way, our interpretation of this salad did omit one traditional element—there is no raw egg in it, in keeping with modern health concerns.

At the restaurant, this dish is served as a starter. It would also make a great main course for four.