Cappelletti Pasta in Broth

Cappelletti, a variant on the well-known tortellini of Bologna, are normally served in a clear broth. My cappelletti are vegetarian, filled with ricotta and spices, but you could use meat, too. The soup is a rich, clear duck broth; almost a consomme. Simple yet, elegant.

Meatless Spaghetti Sauce

Taking a break from what has become the Summer of Salmon, this is my go-to summertime pasta sauce recipe. A mix of fresh or preserved tomatoes, lots of fresh fennel and a little bit of anise-flavored liqueur brighten up this sauce for warm days.

Morel Mushroom Risotto

I make a lot of risotto, but I love mushroom risotto most of all. This is what I do when life gives me a basket of pretty fresh morels, and life's been good to me this season.

Spaghetti with Crab Sauce

I first ate this astonishing spaghetti sauce in Massachusetts; my brother-in-law made it with lobster. This is my West Coast version, done with crab.

Authentic Bolognese Sauce

I make all sorts of Italian pasta sauces, but an authentic Bolognese sauce is something else entirely. It make look like any other meat sauce, but it isn't.

Nettle Pasta

It's nettle season here in Northern California, and as I am on a pasta jag lately, I thought I would make pasta dough with stinging nettles. Seemed like the right thing to do.

Crab Risotto

We're in the thick of our Dungeness crab season here in California, and crab risotto is one of my favorite things to do with them.

Arrowhead or Wapato Pasta

Wapato, arrowhead, katniss, duck potato: Sagittaria is an aquatic tuber of American marshes said to be the equal of a potato. I have never found it. But a friend sent me some, so I got my first tantalizing taste.

Wild Turkey Risotto

Today is a day for leftover turkey, domestic or wild. Whichever kind you ate yesterday, this risotto recipe is a great way to use leftover bits.

Duck or Goose Ragu

Duck seasons are opening all over the country now, and this rich, bolognese-style pasta sauce is a great way to use legs and wings of wild ducks and geese.

New England Mushroom Bonanza

My family never hunted mushrooms when I grew up. But after an epic mushrooming trip on Cape Ann yesterday, they may well become mycophiles in a hurry.