Nut

Chestnuts are harvested in the area around Alba and figure in many savory and sweet dishes there, particularly stews like this ragout. Gathered after they have fallen, chestnuts are traditionally served with game, but they also pair well with veal-another staple of northern Italian cuisine. If fresh chestnuts are unavailable, roasted vacuum-packed chestnuts-sold in jars in the specialty foods section of many supermarkets-can be used. Supply crusty bread for soaking up the juices. Accompany with a radicchio and escarole salad, and uncork a Barolo.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 30 min

Rugelach are classic cookies in the Jewish culinary repertoire. The surprise ingredient in this version--cottage cheese--makes for tender, rich cookies.

Use to frost White Chocolate Easter Cake with Strawberries

A standard at health food restaurants across the country, carrot cake was ubiquitous in the seventies. Grated carrots made it a nutritious choice, or so the thinking went. This ultra-moist version is updated with a maple icing.

The sauce for these cheese-based latkes, which are great for breakfast, can be made two days ahead. Be sure to serve the pancakes (enough for four people) as soon as they are made.

Here's a versatile pesto. It's great with goat cheese as an appetizer, mixed with balsamic vinegar as a vinaigrette, spread on sandwiches, tossed with steamed carrots, or mixed with a little cream and chicken broth and served over pasta.

"I have such special memories of my grandmother Mimi in the kitchen cooking and baking, all dressed up. My favorite cookies were her pecan crescents," says Barbara Hartwig of Sherwood, Wisconsin. "I am most fortunate to have her original recipe card. We still use it every year."

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. Makes use of the microwave oven.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

A French flourless nut cake, topped with poached pears, is lovely for Hanukkah.

Our food editors loved shavings of Stilton cheese on these tarts. We understand that nobody has much room for dessert after a big meal, much less one with cheese, but these tarts are actually quite light and refreshing: The Stilton lends depth and provides a savory counterpoint to the sweet grapes and crust.

Buttermilk and walnuts make the difference in this delectable layer cake.

If you are using salted pistachios, omit the 1/4 teaspoon salt in the ingredient list.

Piparelli Abstinence during Lent means that for the forty days preceding Easter, Catholics all over Sicily are supposed to eat cucina magra (literally, lean food). This means no meat, no fat, no eggs. Theoretically. Modern Catholics get to choose what they give up for Lent, and this is called fare un fioretto, or making a sacrifice. There is little indication that pastries and sweets are even near the top of the "to give up" list, other than the presence of quaresimali, the general term for the category of austere cookies that appear in pastry shops during the spring. Piparelli are the Lenten cookies that the people of Messina like best. At the Pasticceria Vinci Domenico in Messina, piparelli are such a favorite that they're now made year-round.

(SPUMONE AL CIOCCOLATO E MANDORLE) Here's an elegant dessert of Neapolitan origin that manages to be rich and light at the same time. Its airy texture is reflected in its name, which comes from the Italian word for foam, spuma.