For New York Times bestselling author Giada De Laurentiis, pasta has always been one of the great pleasures of the table: it’s healthy and delicious; it can be light and delicate or rich and hearty; it’s readily available and easy to prepare--everything you want in a meal. And nothing satisfies a craving for Italian food quite like it! In Everyday Pasta, Giada invites you to share her love of this versatile staple with more than a hundred brand-new recipes for pasta dishes, as well as for complementary sauces, salads, and sides tempting enough to bring the whole family to the dinner table.

Without forgetting about the classics we all love, Giada makes the most of the many varieties of pasta available to create recipes that combine familiar flavors in exciting new ways.

Although most of these dishes are all-in-one meals in themselves, Giada also supplies recipes for her favorite appetizers, side dishes, and salads to round them out.

Whether you’re looking for a simple summer supper that makes the most of seasonal vegetables or seeking comfort in a pasta bowl on a cold winter’s night, Everyday Pasta offers just the thing.

• Tuna, Green Bean, and Orzo Salad

• Crab Salad Napoleans with Fresh Pasta

• Roman-Style Fettuccini with Chicken

• Baked Pastina Casserole

• Tagliatelle with Short Ribs Ragou

• Spaghetti with Eggplant, Butternut Squash, and Shrimp

Easy to prepare and endlessly versatile, pasta makes a wonderful quick supper when time is short but easily becomes an elegant meal when the occasion requires. In Everyday Pasta, Giada shows you how, with a few basic ingredients from the fridge and the pantry, you’re never more than minutes away from a delicious pasta dinner.

Yield: 6 servings

1 box (8-ounces) cannelloni or manicotti, about 12 shells

1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus 1/4 cup for sprinkling

1 egg yolk

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

1 pound lump crab meat, picked over 1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper Bechamel sauce, recipe follows

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until it's tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain.

In a large bowl, gently mix together the ricotta, 3/4 cup of the Parmesan, egg yolk, basil, crab, salt, and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Fill the cannelloni with the crab mixture and place them in a buttered baking dish. Top the filled cannelloni with the Bechamel sauce and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake until they are bubbly and the tops are golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Bechamel Sauce

Yield: about 4 cups

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

4 cups warm whole milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup freshly ground white pepper Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and cook and whisk until smooth, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the warm milk and cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce is thick, smooth, and creamy, about 10 minutes (do not allow the Bechamel sauce to boil). Remove from the heat and stir in the salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

giada de laurentiis

is the star of Food Network’s Everyday Italian and Behind the Bash. She attended the Cordon Bleu in Paris, and then worked in a variety of Los Angeles restaurants, including Wolfgang Puck’s Spago, before starting her own catering and private-chef company, GDL Foods. The granddaughter of movie producer Dino De Laurentiis, Giada was born in Rome and grew up in Los Angeles, where she now lives.