Pasta

The pork for this Southern-inspired pasta sauce is studded with garlic, which infuses the meat while it roasts.

Pasta shapes are not automatically interchangeable. Here's how to choose the right kind for your sauce

These 4 tips from chef Sara Jenkins will put your spaghetti, ziti, and orecchiette over the top

Orecchiette ("little ears" in Italian) are the perfect shape for cupping the kale and breadcrumbs.

This twist on pasta carbonara is sweet from leeks and rich thanks to cream (in place of eggs).

Any short, tubular pasta will work with this meaty ragù. We used sedanini ("little celery") on the cover, but easier-to-find rigatoni and penne are great, too.

This pasta sauce is thickened with pureed chickpeas, and it's finished with a fresh garlic-and-rosemary oil, which adds great flavor and an even better aroma.

A thoroughly fall riff on an iconic food group: tomatoes out, shredded butternut squash in!

Skip a step when making mac and cheese by not precooking the pasta. Instead, mix the dried pasta with a thinner-than-usual bèchamel sauce, and it will bake perfectly in just 30 minutes.

A malfatto (Italian for "badly made") is a tender dumpling with rustic character. (Think gnocchi, but bigger.)

Chef Nate Hamilton at Harvest in Madison, WI, says: “Sometimes I sit and watch baseball and eat pistachios out of the can, but they’re better as a topper for pasta.”

This vegetarian revelation balances the meaty sweetness of butternut squash with bitter broccoli rabe and a creamy sauce. Serve it with a simple salad.

Adapted from The River Cafe Classic Italian Cookbook by Rose Gray, Ruth Rogers, and Michael Joseph. Copyright Rose Gray 2009.

Adapted from The River Cafe Classic Italian Cookbook by Rose Gray, Ruth Rogers, and Michael Joseph. Copyright Rose Gray 2009.