mmmmmmmmmmmmm Pizza. According to Men's Health, Pizza is the one food that most men would never, eeeeever give up, regardless of how fat they would get. Pizza is one of those incredibly customizable meals that satisfy more than just Ninja Turtles. Pizza is also very good at clearing some ingrediants out of the fridge. The following is my personal base recipe and suggested toppings. Keep in mind that everyone's tastes differ, as well as their cooking skills, so no angry "it SUCKS" emails, please.

The Crust:
	While you could make the pizza dough from scratch, I find that it's too time consuming. I usually go to the nearest bakery or Fortino's and pick up some pre-made stuff for about a buck and a half.
The Sauce:
	Oh the sauce, one of the very few things you can mess up on a pizza. Please, take your time on it, for your tongue's sake. Ingredients:      Crushed Tomatoes...[ Canned (Unico is best) or fresh - only non-optional ingrediant ] Oregano...[ one of the few secrets to authentic Italian cooking ] Garlic...[ one of the other few secrets to authentic Italian cooking. Fresh is best ] Salt & pepper Instructions:      JOHNNY, what the heck, you didn't include amounts! That's right, Jabroni, I didn't. As noted in my disclaimer, I only measure ingredients when I am following a recipe. Other than that, I play it by eye (and taste) If you need a general rule of thumb, I find that a bit more than a teaspoon of everything mixed in with about 10 HEAPING tablespoons of crushed tomatoes works well. So that makes the instructions very very simple. Pour the crushed tomatoes in a bowl. If it looks too thick, you may want to add some water now. Add your own blend of the remaining spices. Put in the fridge for at least 1 hour
The Pizza:
	Ingredients:      anything you want ( preferably edible and not blinking.. pizza is awesome!! ) Johnny's faves include: Tre Stelle Mozzarella, Genoa Salami (pepparoni pales in comparison!), thin onions, mushrooms. Instructions:      Evenly strectch the dough over a lightly oiled cookie sheet or pizza pan. Put on the sauce, cheese and toppings. Throw it in the oven at 375 degrees F for about 15-20 mins... cheese must be bubbling and bottom golden brown.

Pasta - the staple food for Italians.
Pasta is served almost every other day in my household, and every day in my grandmother's.
Pasta by itself is (usually) bland, and thus it needs a nice sauce to pop out the flavour.
Guys - nothing says "exotic and romantic" like a candlelight pasta dinner. It will even get you out of a high-security doghouse ;)

About 30 mins before the sauce is done, you can start cooking the pasta from the instructions on the package.

Ingredients:
	Crushed Tomatoes..[ Canned (Unico is best) or fresh - only non-optional ingrediant ] Meat..............[ some ground beef combined with a little ground pork works very well, but almost anything can be used, from sausage to chicken legs] Salt & Pepper Oregano Garlic [fresh or powder] Onion powder
Instructions:
	Put some oil in the bottom of a pot and start cooking the meat. This step is crucial because the flavour of the meat and spices will define your sauce. For chicken or ground meats, I like to add salt, pepper, oregano and onion powder. We are not going for stand-alone meal status, but this foundation should be tasty on its own. Please leave the Montreal Steak Marenade on the shelf. Thanks. Once the meat is about 90% cooked, pour in equal amounts of crushed tomatoes and water. I usually put in one can of tomatoes and one of water. ( A large can should be enough for about 6 servings ) Add some salt. This part takes some finesse. What I usually do is open up one of those big boxes and quickly make one circle around the pot. Apparrantly that should be roughly equivalent to a tablespoon or two. Sprinkle with a bit of oregano. When it comes to a boil, lower the heat to a bit above medium, and let it cook for about an hour. Pour about 1-2 ladles worth of sauce over each plate of pasta.

Italian? No. Tasty? Yes. My mother came upon this recipe from one of her friends at work, and we've been making these at least twice a year for a birthday or holiday party. The ingredients seem kind of weird, but oh boy does it turn out great! I'm not going to give the recipe for the small meatballs here, but this sauce goes well over small meatballs and chicken wings.

Ingredients:
	1 cup Ketchup 1 cup brown sugar ¼ cup white vinegar 1 tsp garlic ( can use 1/2 tsp garlic powder ) 1 dash soya sauce
Instructions:
	Combine everything in a bowl. Mix. Pour over meat that is cooked and put in the oven at 350 degrees for about 30 mins. The sauce will not taste right until it is cooked. ("Fire made it good" - Homer Simpson)

My girlfriend told be about the recipe back when we started going out in 1997. We kept talking about making it, but I didn't have the recipe, and her mother said that she was going to show me. Well, 5 years later in 2002, Noelia still wanted this stuff (she didn't know how to make it either) So I decided to take matters into my own hands. Through the kindness of some people on the internet, I acquired this recipe. The results were exactly what Noelia wanted. =)

This is like a sweet bread, closely related to a cinnamon bun. For best results, melt some caramel on top of each bun, and top with some walnut chunks.

Ingredients:
	5- 5 1/2 cups flour 1 oz yeast 1 cup sugar 2/3 cup milk 3 eggs 1/2 cup butter Dash salt Grated rind of one orange or lemon
Instructions:
	The argentine way is to put your flour on the table in a circle and add the rest of the ingredients a little at a time in the center, as if you were mixing cement by hand. Mix and knead. (The "american" way would be to start with your liquid ingredients and add the flour a little at a time until you have a dough that can be kneaded on a floured surface - either way will yield a yummy product) Let the dough rise in an oiled bowl in a warm place until doubled. Divide your dough in 2 or 3 pieces and hit each one against the drainboard 80 times, finally putting them all together for a few more hits. Put back in oiled bowl and let rise IN THE FRIDGE until doubled. Roll dough out very thin (as for cinnamon rolls). Spread CREMA PASTELERA on the dough, roll up as for cinnamon rolls, and cut slices about 3 fingers wide. Place in a greased round pan with high sides (35-40 cm in diameter - or use cake pans and make 2 or 3). Place in the shape of a flower with a roll in the center and the rest around, leaving about 1-2" space between each roll. Let rise once more and bake in 350 oven till lightly browned on bottom and top. Serve with more CREMA PASTELERA, if desired.
CREMA PASTELERA
	2 eggs 2 yolks 1 cup sugar 2 Tbsp + 2 tsp flour 4 cups milk 1 teaspoon vanilla or small piece lemon rind Place first four ingredients in pan. Mix in milk and cook on low heat, stirring constantly, until it is thick and boiling. Remove from flame, add vanilla or lemon rind and let cool.

This is by far the easiest recipe I have ever tried. The result is a very sweet caramel, and it is about the consistency of Nutella. It goes well on the Torta de 80 Golpes, and Noelia especially likes it on toast.

Ingredients:
	1 can condensed milk
Instructions:
	Get a pot that is much bigger than the can of condensed milk. Put a handcloth on the bottom Place the UNOPENED can of milk in the pot, and fill with water. Put on stove and let boil for 3 hours. BE SURE that the can is always well covered with water. Let cool Open can.

This is one of my favorite Italian cakes. This is very simple to make. It has a very creamy texture, and the amount of moisture depends directly on how long you keep each cookie in the coffee. WARNING: I literally dip each cookie in the coffee about one second! The cookies soak up the coffee really quickly. It will take some practise to get it right. For best results, let stand for one day.

Ingredients:
	1 package savoyardi ("ladyfinger" biscuits, look in Italian groceries, may be in supermarkets) 4 eggs 2 cups espresso coffee 14 oz Mascarpone cheese 4 oz sugar 1 oz cocoa powder Cognac or brandy (optional) to taste (I don't use any, my parents use about 1/4 cup)
Instructions:
	Separate eggs. Beat the egg yolks and sugar together into smooth creamy consistency. In a seperate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff. Mix the mascarpone cheese with the egg/sugar mixture and then fold in the egg whites. Mix the coffee and liquor. Dip the savoyardi in the coffee-liquor mixture one at a time (please see warning, above), and place in a single layer in the bottom of a 9x13 pan or casserole. Spoon half the cheese mixture over top, evenly. Repeat with second layer. Dust top with cocoa. Chill until serving time.