5 Easy Italian Recipes Perfect for Weeknights

When my son was 8 months old, we took an impromptu trip to Rome for a week of pasta, wine, and gelato. It was magical, tiring, and most of all, delicious. Italians know their food, and they know that food doesn’t have to be complicated or stuffy to be delish. The simplest ingredients can make something very special, especially when paired with good company and great wine.

As I look out my window and see the sun setting at 4:30pm and the backyard gathering a dusting of snow, I’m thinking back to that sweltering week of navigating Rome with a stroller and a will to eat as much as humanly possible. This means a week of Italian comfort foods will flow out of my Chicago kitchen.

Does it taste the same? Not quite, but it’s bringing me right back to simple days, when my toddler was too small to have his own opinions about what he eats (he has many), and would gobble up anything in front of him. I didn’t know it then, but ah, those were the good old days.