The Ultimate Weeknight Meal

By Ben Mims
For Cooking Newbie, a blog for beginner cooks

Whenever I’m strapped for ideas and ingredients to make a quick weeknight meal, there’s one dish I can always rely on: polenta. Essentially “Italian grits,” polenta is simply cooked ground dried corn kernels. In their uncooked form, they last for months. I always have some in the pantry and it’s at its best when cooked with just some salt and pepper.

Since it’s summer, and I like my polenta hot from the stove, I make a fresh tomato sauce and chill it down for contrast when eating this piping hot polenta. Use fresh tomatoes if you have some, but canned always work as well, since they’re canned at the height of freshness and flavor.

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Lasagna Love

By Lori Powell
For One or Two Bites, a blog for singles and couples

Lasagna is one of those Italian American comfort foods that has been reworked into a million different recipes over the years. When I visited Italy years ago I was surprised to find that the Italian version was very different from its American adaptation.

The lasagne that I find more often in the States is a towering wonder of cheese and meat-filled sauce, not to mention some noodles. In Italy, it’s a bit more refined and made more simply with super-tender, melt-in-your-mouth noodles and generally very little cheese, if any at all.

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