Looking for a good side to pair with this soup? Try my homemade breadsticks, buttery garlic bread, or arugula salad.

Homemade Mini Meatball Soup

This meatball soup is a comforting soup reminiscent of spaghetti and meatballs but in homestyle, sip-able soup form! It's an excellent thing to prepare to warm up with after a long chilly day and it pairs beautifully with salad or bread.

For a meatball vegetable soup it can be modified to reduce the carbs and replace the pasta with more vegetables. There are also options to replace the ground beef with ground turkey or ground chicken, or use other various types of pasta (all these ideas addressed in the variations and questions below).

Just keep in mind if you plan on having extra servings you may want to consider cooking the pasta separately if you are like me and hate soggy pasta (just reduce the broth by 1 cup if doing so).

Happy fall and welcome to sweater weather and soup season!

So Much to Love About Sheet Pan Gnocchi with Veggies

Welcome to your new go-to weeknight dinner staple recipe! This simple recipe is made with shelf stable gnocchi yet it doesn't even need to be cooked beforehand.

Everything is just tossed together with olive oil on one big baking sheet, then oven roasted and finished with parmesan. Dinner really doesn't get any easier than this!

It's such a fresh tasting, flavorful dinner highlighted with herby, garlicky, parmesan goodness. It's a very hands off meal with such a simple prep and you can have it ready in under 30 minutes. It's adaptable too and you can use up other vegetables you have on hand (ideas listed below).

Plus it's a dish everyone can agree on. There are just so many things to love about this gnocchi, zucchini and tomato sheet pan dinner!

Pair it with chicken, steak or salmon to round out the meal, or just keep it vegetarian and serve it with a side salad.

Wondering what to do with that hearty bread that's getting stale on the counter? One of the best options is to make this refreshing, summery, and brightly colorful panzanella salad! Homemade croutons will blow your mind.

Classic Panzanella is a rustic salad that was originally created by the farmers of the central Italian countryside who made it as a way to use up day-old bread and their abundance of fresh homegrown vegetables.

It comes together quickly and it's the perfect side dish to various grilled meats. It's also such a versatile salad with options to swap in other vegetables, use various cheeses, try it with a protein, or add beans.

This is a great base and guide to get you started from there you can adjust it to your heart's content!

Crave-Worthy Pasta with Pesto Cream Sauce

While the recipe itself doesn't have a typical pesto sauce in it, it brings the elements of pesto compiled together in a cooked pasta dish plus an addition of a gloriously creamy sauce.

I love a good pesto with a rich olive oil, but just think of a pesto made with silky cream instead. Once you taste this be wondering why you hadn't made it this way before.

You only need a few ingredients to make this freshly flavorful dish. Plan on a simple prep, and if you want to upgrade it with a protein to make it heartier feel free to add one right into the pasta or pair alongside it.

Burst Cherry Tomato Pasta Sauce

This Italian tomato sauce is unbelievably easy to make, so easy in fact you you don't even have to start by cutting tomatoes they are just added whole. A quick simmer on the stove will have the skins bursting and they'll simmer down to a thick sauce.

The sauce is ready in 15 minutes and you can have the pasta cooking while the sauce is simmering for a super fast meal. For a quick cooking pasta try it with cheese filled tortellini!

You'll find this to be a vegetarian dish that's sure to please everyone especially if you opt to crown individual servings with those creamy finishing touches. That includes either moisture rich fresh mozzarella (mini pearls are great), dollops of milky ricotta, or torn portions of cream filled burrata.

This is a must try summer recipe that's brimming with freshness and sure to satisfy those pasta cravings!

It's delicious filling for sandwiches or doubles as a topping over potatoes, rice or pasta.

Homestyle Sausage with Peppers and Onions

Sausage and peppers is a simple Italian style dish that's packed with bright fresh ingredients an abundance of comforting, satisfying flavor. It's an enjoyable lunch or dinner entree that is easy to make and it's fun to serve a variety of ways.

It begins with rich sausages that are beautifully browned, then they simmer briefly nestled with the sautéed peppers and onions, while the sauce simmers down and lightly thickens for a nice base. To finish the sausages are sliced into bite size coins and it's all coated with a fair sprinkle of parmesan, because why not? It adds that last touch of perfectly enhancing flavor.

There's so much crave-able goodness in every bite. Truly you'll want to use bakery fresh hoagies only (no stale hoagies buns from the shelf) for something this delicious!

Watch the Video!

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Pasta Salad with Pesto

Traditional pasta salad is delicious but I think it's safe to say this pasta salad with upgraded Italian flavors is even better!

It doesn't require an overload of ingredients to really build up flavor, just a generous bowlful of fresh, highly scented basil and some good olive oil.

This pasta salad is easy to make, the pesto is even made in the food processor for a shortcut and the fresh mozzarella already comes pre-cut into tiny pearls.

And you'll love that this pairs well with so many summery grilled meats. I like to serve it with grilled chicken or steak and grilled corn on the cob.

It's adaptable to use other types of pasta and it will actually store well in the fridge for a day (or more if you wait to add the arugula).

Add this one to the dinner menu this week and save any extra for lunch the next day!

A Vibrant Grilled Breast Chicken Recipe

Here you get lightly charred chicken breasts with gorgeous grill marks blanketed with melty mozzarella, vibrantly green basil pesto, and it's highlighted with glistening crowning finish of fresh tomatoes atop. This Italian style recipe is the ultimate upgrade to plain chicken!

Inspired by margherita pizza, chicken margherita is made including those same flavors while being more heavy with the fresh basil (thanks to the plentitude of homemade pesto).

This is a summery chicken dish with gourmet flavor that will undoubtedly impress, yet it doesn't require a whole lot of effort. And if you don't own a grill or if it's too chilly out you can also pan sear the chicken (see note below).

It's fair to say this is most definitely a chicken recipe you don't want to pass by, especially with grilling season upon us. What better way to welcome the warm weather than celebrating it with this flawless chicken margherita?

Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast

This hearty stuffed chicken recipe is easier than you'd think yet always completely impressive.

It includes vibrant Mediterranean cuisine inspired ingredients that will leave you craving more.

It's brimming with spinach and includes so many other satisfying flavors to compliment it. The feta and sun dried tomatoes are two key components here that add so much to the dish.

The chicken breasts are carved with a deep pocket in each is generously filled with this fresh, complexly flavorful mixture.

From there it's pan seared for a beautiful golden brown finish and baked off in the oven to cook it all the way through. Serve it with the little bit of drippings in the pan and if you want more just add a splash of chicken broth and a few dabs of butter for a quick, savory pan sauce.

Easy Caprese Salad Christmas Tree Appetizer

Caprese salad is one of the easiest, tastiest Italian side dishes to prepare. And its natural colors just happen to be so perfectly Christmasy too so it only makes sense to bring the two things together for a deliciously festive dish making this cheery "Christmas tree".

This tasty "tree" is party perfect, makes enough for a crowd, doesn't require any special kitchen skills, and only needs a handful of ingredients. It's just a quick and simple, edible art project that will be the talk of the holiday gathering.

It's also a fun thing to do together if you've got friends or family around to help. Someone can slice while the other person assembles. Even kids can help with the layering assembly.

So many reasons to add this easy Christmas side dish to your holiday menu!