What are pizza beans? They’re hearty white beans that taste like pizza, of course, simmered in a marinara-like sauce and topped with bubbling mozzarella cheese. Deb came up with the concept, and I’m a huge fan.

Today, I’m sharing my spin with canned beans, optional spinach, and a rich tomato paste-based sauce that tastes like it’s been simmering on the stove for hours. It’s cheesy and satisfying like baked ziti, but more wholesome and easier to make.

These pizza beans are so good and simple that this dish kinda feels like cheating. It’s an easy weeknight meal for cooler days. I bet you already have the ingredients in your pantry!

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How about pizza tonight? It’s hard to beat classic pesto pizza. This simple vegetarian pizza recipe is a guaranteed crowd pleaser. It offers an irresistible combination of fresh, bright flavors from the basil pesto and tomatoes, plenty of cheesy mozzarella, and a bubbling crust with a satisfying chew.

This easy pesto pizza recipe comes together quickly with the help of your food processor. You can whip together the dough and pesto in about 15 minutes—just wipe down the processor in between the two components. If you’re looking for a super simple weeknight meal that’s better than take-out, use store-bought dough and pesto instead!

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This spinach lasagna is gloriously cheesy, perfectly saucy, and fully loaded with fresh sautéed spinach. It’s worthy of special occasions and holidays, and such a treat on a chilly weekend.

If you’re craving a meatless main dish with familiar flavors, this spinach lasagna is the answer. The sauce is made from scratch and sets this lasagna apart from your average recipe. It’s comfort food at its finest.

This spinach lasagna recipe requires some effort, as all lasagnas do. That said, it comes together beautifully and is 100 percent worth your while. No-boil noodles save time and effort—have you ever tried working with floppy, sticky, freshly-boiled lasagna noodles? No need to struggle for this recipe.

If you’re new to making lasagnas, this is a great recipe to start with. It’s a bit easier than my veggie lasagna, which is my other go-to recipe! This one is essentially my spinach artichoke lasagna without the artichoke. It’s so delicious that it deserves the spotlight.

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Pizza always makes a bad day feel better, and there’s nothing nicer than a perfect slice of margherita pizza. Now you can make this recipe at home any time the craving strikes!

Pizza margherita, as the Italians call it, is a simple pizza hailing from Naples. When done right, margherita pizza features a bubbly crust, crushed San Marzano tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella and basil, a drizzle of olive oil, and a sprinkle of salt. That is all.

Sure, you could add some tomato if you’d like, but only if the tomato is truly ripe, red and worthy. Authentic Neapolitan pizza margherita doesn’t require fresh tomatoes. Try making this pizza as written, and you won’t miss the tomato on top.

Sometimes less is more, and the margherita pizza is a lesson in restraint. It’s different from an American cheese pizza, which often features a heavier crust, spiced tomato sauce, and a thick layer of cheese on top.

This pizza is bright, simple and fresh. It’s a delight to make, even better to eat, and arguably lighter and healthier than a typical cheese pizza. How about pizza tonight?

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Picnic season is here! We’re enjoying a lovely spring here in Kansas City. Our homegrown tomatoes won’t be ready for a while, but I’m sharing my favorite picnic sandwich with you since I can find great tomatoes at the store now.

This Caprese sandwich recipe is inspired by the classic Caprese salad. It features ripe red tomatoes and sliced fresh mozzarella with the most irresistible creamy basil sauce. For extra flavor, I also added a little drizzle of balsamic vinegar and a small handful of arugula.

Sandwich all of that inside a crusty loaf of French baguette, and you will have a perfectly portable sandwich for picnics or road trips. Or, enjoy it at home for a quick meal from now through the end of tomato season this fall.

This tomato and mozzarella sandwich is a terrific vegetarian sandwich that offers a surprising amount of protein, thanks to the cheese. This recipe is my homemade rendition of my go-to sandwich at our local French café. They’ve just added it back to the menu, so I’m excited that I can order it there or make one at home. Now you can, too.

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These stuffed peppers aren’t the kind your mom made. They’re meatless and loaded with fresh flavor. They’re cheesy as shown, yes, but they’re just as good without the cheese. You can easily make these peppers dairy free or vegan.

Most stuffed peppers are made with Italian seasonings, but I went in a different direction. I was inspired to incorporate some of my favorite Mexican ingredients, including pinto beans, cherry tomatoes, cilantro, lime, chili powder and cumin. The filling is so tasty, I could eat it as a side dish! These peppers are somewhat time consuming, but each element is simple to make.

The trick to making great stuffed peppers is to slice the peppers in half from the stem end down through the base. Then, pre-roast the halves until they’re tender and a bit caramelized at the sliced edges. This way, their flavor is condensed and their texture is just right—not too crisp, but not falling apart.

Please do yourself a favor and cook extra brown rice while you’re at it. Then, you’ll be one step closer to dinner tomorrow night—say, Extra Veggie Fried Rice or any of these rice-based dishes. High five!

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How about pizza tonight? Homemade pizza nights should be fun and easy, and that’s where this pizza dough recipe comes into play. It’s ready in 15 minutes, start to finish. That’s a lot faster than delivery!

This quick whole wheat pizza dough recipe yields a crust of medium thickness. It’s crisp across the bottom and a little chewy in the middle. It has a lovely, yeasty flavor with just a hint of whole wheat. I love this dough so much that I shared it in my cookbook, Love Real Food.

This dough doesn’t have the elusive, stretchy, chewy, sourdough texture that I crave in authentic brick oven pizza. This homemade dough is fantastic, though. A few reasons to love this recipe:

• It’s made from scratch with basic, wholesome ingredients.
• You can make it in your food processor (or by hand).
• This dough requires zero proofing time. You can make your pizzas right away.
• The dough requires minimal effort—just a couple of kneads and a few rolls with a rolling pin.

Let’s make some pizzas!

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These stuffed shells are cheesy, saucy, and stuffed with the most delicious ricotta and spinach filling. I’m in love, and I think you will be, too. Speaking of love, they’re so pretty that you could serve these shells for a romantic Valentine’s dinner at home.

A few more reasons to love this recipe:

• It yields a lot of shells, so it’s perfect for serving a crowd.
• Leftovers are great for lunch, or you can freeze them for later.
• This recipe is relatively easy to make, with minimal chopping.

This stuffed shells recipe features simple and classic Italian ingredients. You’ll need jumbo shells, marinara sauce, ricotta cheese, mozzarella, a little Parmesan, garlic and seasonings.

To make this cheesy dish more redeeming, I added an entire pound of fresh greens! You can use fresh or frozen spinach or kale. The greens yield a gorgeous, vibrant green filling with a lovely, mild flavor. These stuffed shells are honestly the best I’ve ever had, by a long shot. Keep reading for some fun variations and tips.

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Panzanella! A fun name for a bold summertime salad. Panzanella is Italy’s delicious solution for extra tomatoes and stale bread.

This panzanella salad is my take on the classic. It features ripe tomatoes, crisp homemade croutons, fresh cucumber and basil, and mozzarella under a simple, zippy vinaigrette. It’s a study in textures and refreshing Italian flavors.

I’m in love with this panzanella salad recipe and think you will be, too. It avoids all of the potential panzanella pitfalls. Some panzanellas are mushy, bland or watery—not this one.

This panzanella salad makes use of small tomatoes, which are less watery and less likely to be mushy. It’s composed on a large platter in layers, which is key to its good looks. You decide how long to let the salad rest before serving—the croutons soften up with time, in the best way.

Great tomatoes are absolutely essential, so hurry and make this panzanella while you still can!

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Here she is, the lightened-up baked ziti of my dreams. This baked ziti has all of lasagna’s saucy, mozzarella-topped appeal, but is easier to pull off on a regular weeknight. Amen.

When I dreamed up this recipe, I wanted to replace some of the pasta with roasted vegetables. In the end, I was able to displace half of the ziti (8 ounces) with two pounds (32 ounces!) of vegetables.

I chose cauliflower, which develops the most irresistible golden edges as it roasts, red bell pepper and yellow onion. I love this combination, but you could easily use your favorite vegetables here.

It took me a while to find the perfect ratio of mozzarella, marinara, and ricotta (I actually used cottage cheese, more on that in a bit). I believe I’ve hit the nail on the head with the final recipe, and can’t wait to hear how it turns out for you.

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