Alpine Bread Soup

If you are looking for a delicious, thing to do with stale bread, you could do a whole lot worse than make a batch of bread soup: It's quick, easy and only uses a few ingredients.

Mushroom Tortellini

When life gives you mushrooms, make tortellini out of them. I love these little packets of love, and making them with wild mushrooms is especially lovely.

Venison Risotto

Yes, you can make risotto with red meat. This venison risotto is a riff of a beef risotto dish from northern Italy. It's essentially a venison rice porridge, loose and rich. Serve it in a bowl.

Artichoke Soup with Meatballs

A chunky artichoke soup that relies on artichoke hearts and little meatballs, plus a simple, clear broth. A light winter soup.

Panzanella di Mare

Panzanella di mare is an Italian bread salad with tinned fish. This is a winter panzanella with black kale, squash and sage. It's versatile, too.

Garlic Parmesan Risotto

Garlic parmesan risotto should be the first recipe you learn when you want to make risotto: It's easy, there are no hard-to-find ingredients, and the result will make you want to make this Italian classic over and over.

Olive Oil Rosemary Cake

A recipe for an olive oil rosemary cake with pine nuts. This is an Italian cake that isn't too sweet, and is great with preserved fruit and a little liqueur.

Canederli Dumplings

Canederli are dumplings from the Italian Alps closely related to Austrian and German dumplings. Filling, rich and easy to make.

Pine Nut Cookies

How to make pine nut cookies, pignoli, with American pine nuts -- although any kind of pine nut works. These cookies have a touch of rosemary in them and are not too sweet.

Barley Risotto

Barley risotto is an earthy, hearty variant on traditional rice risotto. My recipe uses barley, stock, cheese and shredded grouse.

Chanterelle Pasta

A fun, summertime recipe for chanterelle pasta: Pasta with chanterelle mushrooms, sweet corn, cherry tomatoes and basil. You could use other mushrooms, too, found or bought.