Parmesan Cheese

Lee Tillman from Santa Rosa, Calif., was looking for a recipe for an Italian vegetable and bread soup called "Ribollita" that she had when she was in Florence, Italy. Anne Brusca of Columbia sent in her recipe for Ribollita that she says is a specialty of Italy's Tuscany region. The word means twice baked and is aptly applied to this dish because it is, in fact, cooked twice. Brusca says, "It is a lot of work to make but well worth the effort." I would agree completely. The only change I made to her recipe was that I decided to prepare the soup one day and then bake it with the bread and cheese for the second time the following day. The end result was a marvelously thick and delicious one-pot meal, more like a stew than a soup.

This lasagna, slightly adapted from Joann Simonetti's recipe, uses homemade noodles, which results in a lighter dish, but dried noodles will work fine. JOANN SIMONETTI'S LASAGNA Makes 12 servings SAUCE: 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 1 / 2 sweet onion, chopped 2 pounds ground chuck 1 / 2 teaspoon each: salt, garlic powder Freshly ground pepper 1 can (29 ounces) tomato puree 2 cans (28 ounces each) crushed tomatoes 1 tablespoon dried basil 10 sprigs fresh basil or to taste 1 teaspoon sugar 2 teaspoons grated Romano cheese RICOTTA FILLING: 1 container (32 ounces)

Jean H. Carcaba of St. Augustine, Fla., wrote that she was seeking a recipe for Chicken Giardino, which "I recently had at the Olive Garden restaurant. It was one of their healthy choices on the menu. I enjoyed it so much and didn't feel it was a diet meal." Susan Hitchcock of Sonoma, Calif., wrote: "I am responding to the recipe request for Chicken Giardino from the Olive Garden restaurant. I am a big fan of that dish. Although I do not have their recipe, I do have one that is a close second best.

Shrimp can be dressed up as a cocktail dangling seductively from the edge of a crystal bowl or made into a quick, casual meal with a coating of batter and a plunge in the deep fryer. Shrimp come in a variety of sizes and colors. The kind of dish you're going to make will determine the kind of shrimp you buy. Shrimp are typically sold by count or number per pound. The higher the count, the smaller the shrimp. Extra-large shrimp, 16 to 20 per pound, are the ones you'd like to feature in a shrimp cocktail.

Kate Linwood's request for a veal Parmesan recipe struck the right note with our readers. Sally Pitner of Baltimore says she makes this recipe at least once a month. However, she says veal cutlets have become so expensive she often uses boneless, skinless chicken breasts pounded thin. The taste is very similar, she says. Lisa Stewart of Reisterstown sent us this recipe:Veal ParmesanServes four to six.3 veal cutlets, cut in half2 eggs, beaten1/2 teaspoon salt1/4 teaspoon pepper1 cup dry bread crumbs1/2 cup olive or vegetable oil2 cups spaghetti sauce1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese1/2 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced or shredded3 to 4 cups hot, cooked noodlesDip cutlets in combined eggs, salt and pepper.

When you think of a meatless pasta dinner, no doubt you have visions of a jar of tomato sauce or a little olive oil and Parmesan cheese. Here are three more interesting and unusual -- but very simple -- meatless dinners with protein and nutrients galore (and not an ounce of red sauce).Serve this creamy, rich Greek Pasta With Feta with a like-minded salad made from romaine lettuce, fresh snips of dill, tomato and thinly sliced onion. You can buy feta cheese already crumbled in most grocery stores, or, to make crumbling easy, place a chunk of it in the freezer for a couple of minutes before you handle it before crumbling.

A super cake and a supreme cauliflower are tasty additions to lunch or dinner.Toni Radomski of Cockeysville requested a "Kandy Kake." She wrote that her husband threw out her recipe for "a wonderful cake topped with peanut butter and melted Hershey bars on top."Rave reviews about this cake came with responses which included titles such as Kandy or Tandy Kake or Tandy Takes.Tracy Beavan of Eldersburg called her treats Tandy Takes. She said preparation time was 30 minutes and baking time 20 minutes.

Most would agree that some cosmetic surgery can give us the proverbial new lease on life. It applies to people. It applies to restaurants. Aface-liftis just what Chris Infantino, the current owner of Tino's Italian Bistro, did when he acquired the storefront space formerly known as Strapazza. There wasn't much Infantino's interior designer could do about the building's facade, but inside you'll find a handsomely reconfigured upscale-looking restaurant/bistro/trattoria -- in the burnt sienna walls, the wrought-iron sculptures hung on them, the floor-to-ceiling wine rack that divides the two dining rooms.

Here's a promise the dining-out crowd may love to hear: It'll be the best place to eat in the area. That's what the owner/chef of Canton's newest restaurant is vowing. Ted Stelzenmuller certainly knows East Baltimore restaurants. He's worked for the last few years in the vicinity, first at Red Fish, and then at Salt. If all goes as planned, starting tomorrow you'll be able to see whether he lives up to that promise, when he's set to open the doors of Jack's Bistro. OK. His name is Ted. Yet, his eatery is called Jack's.

Hiltrud Tuinstra from Santa Rosa, Calif., was looking for a recipe she lost years ago for making stuffed zucchini. She recalled that it had frozen spinach and bread crumbs added to the zucchini flesh, but unfortunately she could not remember any other details about the recipe. Joann Langdale , also from Santa Rosa, sent in her favorite recipe for making stuffed zucchini, which sounded fairly similar to what Tuinstra was seeking. Stuffed zucchini is one of those dishes that has as many variations as your garden or farmers market has zucchinis.