italian

Olive oil, garlic and dried herbs add savory hits of flavor to plumped-up sun-dried tomatoes.

Sauteed artichokes are pureed with ricotta and parm into a creamy pasta sauce.

Bacon serves as the base for this quick-cooking ragu that calls for a rotisserie chicken and fragrant fennel and thyme.

A beef-and-pork meat sauce and herbed ricotta make up many of the layers in this family recipe from Valerie Bertinelli, host of Food Network's "Family Food Showdown."

"These meatballs are a riff on my filling for meat cannelloni and my white Bolognese sauce," Rach says.

Mozzarella is melted over a meatball patty sauced with marinara and served with a tangy antipasti salad.

A simple dressing shaken together in a jar gets tossed with all the flavorful elements of the standard antipasti platter — with crisp lettuce, too.

"Ribollita translates to 'boil again' and refers to reheating beans and greens soup with some stale bread," Rach says.

"The fresh garlic and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese make it something special," Rach says.