When it comes to essentials, like tomato sauce, originality is overrated. Marcella Hazan's classic tomato sauce is famous and adored, and justly so. Scads of bloggers and food writers have written about it, so I'm just following along. I thought it was worth a spotlight this week, as we talk about simple, fresh, inexpensive dinners. This is one of the best sauces I know, and it only needs four (yes, four) ingredients. More

Early spring calls for a very specific sort of supper. We want something comforting, yet light. Nourishing and simple, yet full of bright sunny flavor. Chicken with fennel, fried rice, curried udon noodles, Hainanese chicken, and a lovely Indian dish of flattened rice are all high on our list of favorites. Here are some of our best simple yet flavorful suppers that seem to suit early spring just right. More

Even pasta-lovers like us need something new every once in a while. Here are seven dishes that have recently tempted our taste buds with their fresh flavors and off-beat ingredients. Homemade matzo noodles with peas and parmesan, anyone? More

I had the privilege of learning this recipe from a very seasoned chef in Italy during a cooking class at his family restaurant. It was no surprise that he made creating this dish from scratch look simple. But after a few attempts (and mishaps) in my own kitchen, what surprises me now is that it's something I can put together without looking at instructions. More

This isn't quite as fresh and hopeful as Megan's lovely Springtime Pasta; there's nothing green, and the tomatoes come from a can (wah waah). But you know what? It's delicious. And if you live on the East Coast, you've got four more months until real tomatoes show up at the markets. So grab your can opener—this is easy and it feeds a crowd. More

When it comes to fresh springtime vegetables, we're still in between seasons. Spring is coming, sure, but I still find myself improvising to create bright, beautiful main dishes. That being said, this particular improvisation will make you feel as if a new season has surely sprung. More

We love making homemade pasta because it just tastes so much better than the dried box kind, and of course is a lot more fun! We make ravioli on a fairly regular basis and we just use our fingers and a sharp knife to shape them into squares. It wasn't until we saw these ravioli stamps that we realized how much we wanted them! More

Q: I own a mesh colander and whenever I clean it after making pasta, there are always bits stuck in the mesh that I can't get out.

Do your readers have any suggestions of an easy way to clean these?

Sent by Danielle More

This past weekend in San Francisco, the weather forecast was a bold one. Each news station insisted snow was on its way. People dug out their winter coats. Kids prepared for snow-man marathons. And I made a very fine casserole&mdash one with healthy whole-wheat pasta, Swiss chard, and goat cheese. More

If you're looking for a show-stopping dish for Valentine's Day, consider these six stunning recipes for pasta with beets. We tried to include something for everyone in this roundup; a few of these pink and red creations require a pasta machine (or a dedication to rolling) while others can be made with store-bought pasta or wonton wrappers. There's even a raw and vegan recipe, too. More