Porcini Mushroom

The pasta is divided among four 3 1/2-quart baking dishes so they can be baked individually for open-house-style serving. But you can use any size bake-and-serve dishes — even a roasting pan or a paella pan.

A rustic one-pot meal that's similar to the classic French coq au vin. Two kinds of wild mushrooms add earthy flavor.

For more information about forming tortellini, see Wrapped Around Your Little Finger. Active time: 3 hr Start to finish: 3 1/2 hr

One of the best-loved pastas in the Italian city of Trieste is the whole wheat spaghetti known as bigoli, which is often topped with anitra in sugo, an intensely flavored sauce made with duck. This recipe, from the excellent restaurant Hosteria Bellavista, also includes chicken livers, porcini mushrooms and pancetta (Italian bacon). Porcini mushrooms and bigoli are available at Italian markets and specialty foods stores.

Traditional potato latkes are spiced up with hot paprika and enhanced with earthy porcini mushrooms. They are especially good with roasted meats, poultry, or fish. This recipe will serve four to five as a side dish.

In this typical Northern Italian entrée, polenta is topped with a rich and meaty ragù. Begin preparing the dish one day before you plan to serve it.

Adding potatoes to the puree reduces the amount of cream needed to give this soup its thick, creamy texture.

Porcini mushrooms smooth out the intense flavors of this traditional sauce of tomatoes, olives, anchovies and capers. Although puttanesca sauce is typically served with penne or spaghetti, fusilli holds the sauce better.

A rich, earthy first course or side dish.

Cèpe is the French name (porcini is the Italian name) for the boletus mushroom, which grows in the southwest. Dried cèpes are not readily available here, so we use dried porcini.

Robust ingredients and an elegant presentation: This dish captures all the romance of winter fireside dining. Break out a bottle of good Chianti to pour with supper.

Beurre composé, or compound butter—butter creamed with various flavorings—is a classic French accompaniment, used to top anything from broiled steak or fish to steamed vegetables. Compound butter can be frozen and a few slices cut off whenever the need arises.