Homemade marinara sauce is easier to make than you might guess, and is a wonderful way to introduce yourself to pasta sauces. This recipe can easily be doubled for freezing and sharing, and it is a great pizza sauce as well. Experiment with adding other ingredients to this basic recipe for different flavors—crushed red pepper, olives, sauteed mushrooms, or other fresh herbs. If you don’t want to add shrimp, feel free to skip step #2.

An Oldways recipe. Photo: istockphoto.com

A classic Puttanesca sauce is a great way to turn an everyday pasta dinner into a Mediterranean experience. Originally created in the mid-twentieth century, the dish has its roots in Naples, Italy. Pitted Kalamata olives are the perfect briny complement to this tomato based sauce. The olives are smoky and fruity and add wonderful flavor to this Mediterranean classic.

Recipe and photo courtesy FoodMatch

This easy meal is sure to please everyone in the family. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator for a delicious cold lunch the next day.

Recipe courtesy Barilla, iStock photo

We know and love our babas, traditionally made with rum-soaked pastry. This is a wonderful Italian variant; instead of rum, these babas are saturated with limoncello, the wonderfully-sweet lemon Italian liqueur.

Recipe courtesy of Melissa Clark for Oldways Table Book, istock photo