holiday favorites from the archive

for your vacation inspiration

Photo: Nico Schinco; Food Styling: Judy Kim; Prop Styling: Maeve Sheridan

Happy holidays, everyone!

I hope you’ve been enjoying some R&R this week, and I hope that R&R has included delicious pasta. If you’re bundled up at home and looking for some project cooking inspiration, here are some of my favorites from the archive to tide you over until 2024:

• Buckwheat pasta with fried cabbage & dill

• Buttery, fried apricot-stuffed gnocchi

• Chard & ricotta gnudi with brown butter & sage

• French onion-style pasta with gruyère & chives

• Leftover brisket ragù

• Pear & pecorino ravioletti

• Potato & fried onion pasta in brodo

• Spinach & cheese lasagna rolls (rotolo)

If you’re looking to brush up on your homemade pasta skills, I’ve got tutorials for everything from long ribbons to stuffed pastas to equipment-free delights. For the beginner, might I suggest starting with pappardelle or fettuccine, triangoli, cavatelli, and gnocchi; for the more seasoned pasta-maker and/or adventurer, check out tajarin, tortelli, orecchiette, busiate, and gnudi. There are also lesser-known shapes like stout buckwheat noodles called pizzoccheri, postage-stamp ravioli called sfoglia lorda, Croatian spindles called fusi istriani, and embossed medallions called corzetti stampati. Whatever you choose, don’t forget to start here.

If, instead, you’re tired of cooking and craving something quick, easy, and pantry-friendly, look no further than these wintry weeknight favorites:

• Broccoli sauce (excerpted from my cookbook, Pasta Every Day)

• Bucatini with cauliflower & breadcrumbs

• Easiest garlic & anchovy pasta

• Late-night lemon pasta

• Mushroom, rosemary & red wine ragù

• Pasta with potatoes & provolone

• Red hot calamarata with 20 cloves of garlic

• Super-simple Roman artichoke-style pasta

• Winter greens & beans pasta

Don’t forget there are plenty of festive recent recipes, too, like last week’s short rib & sausage ragù, along with tajarin with mushrooms & marsala, stuffing mac & cheese, tortelli di zucca, and another caramelized onion pasta.

You can also find last year’s holiday recipe roundup, which features dishes I’ve developed for other outlets, here.

Still thinking about last week’s short rib & sausage ragu…

Happy pasta-making and cheers to a great year ahead!

—Meryl