Healthy Italian Vegetarian Recipes

This recipe for garden-fresh pizza sauce makes a batch large enough to top several pizzas. You can make it right now with fresh tomatoes, but if you have a bumper crop or just want to buy a lot of in-season tomatoes and put them up for another day, canning is not your only option: try freezing them. Just remove the cores and freeze them whole. Then, turn your frozen tomatoes into pizza sauce any time of the year.

Think portion control with these individual lasagna roll-ups. Leftovers are great for lunch the next day.

Ribollita, a traditional hearty Tuscan soup, typically uses day-old bread to add body and thicken the broth. This ribollita recipe uses a bean mash, which keeps the soup gluten-free and adds fiber. Garnish with extra-virgin olive oil or pepper and grated Parmesan.

This creamy tortellini and vegetable pasta is a real crowd pleaser. To make it even quicker, use frozen chopped vegetables instead of fresh. Serve with: A green salad and whole-grain baguette.

Making risotto has never been easier, thanks to an electric pressure cooker, like the Instant Pot. In this easy recipe, you don't have to stand over the stove constantly stirring. Just add everything into the multicooker and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes and this delicious dinner side dish is ready.

In this one-skillet supper, we toss dark leafy greens, diced tomatoes and white beans with gnocchi and top it all with gooey mozzarella. Serve with a mixed green salad with vinaigrette.

Slow-roasting the tomatoes gives the tomato sauce for this lasagna recipe an intense depth of flavor--which is then enhanced by the umami in onions, Parmesan and spinach. The lasagna noodles are layered into the lasagna uncooked; the moisture from the fresh spinach cooks them perfectly as the lasagna bakes in the oven.

A tomato-rich dressing boosts the flavor and lowers calories and fat in this tortellini salad (the dressing is also great on green salads or grilled fish). Roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes add a good dose of vitamins A, C and fiber.

Instead of cooking pasta in a huge pot of water, here we use just 3 1/2 cups for this one-pot pasta recipe. When the pasta is al dente, most of the water has evaporated and the bit that's left is thickened with the starch that cooks off the pasta. With just a few add-ins like lemon and Parmesan cheese you have a delicious silky sauce. Want to use up your veggie stash in the freezer? Swap in 8 ounces frozen spinach for fresh.

Zucchini noodles, or "zoodles," are a gluten-free, low-calorie substitute for traditional pasta in this easy and fresh vegan dinner. For best results, toss the zucchini pasta with the basil pesto sauce and serve right away.

Artichoke hearts, olives and a splash of red-wine vinegar give this ultra-quick, healthy vegetarian gnocchi recipe pizzazz. For an additional hit of Mediterranean flavor, try topping with feta cheese.

Traditional Italian subs feature meat but this delightfully easy sandwich packs a punch with artichoke hearts, red onion and zesty pepperoncini instead. We love it for dinner as well as lunch. If you're packing the hoagies to take along, keep the ingredients separate and assemble right before eating to avoid soggy bread. Serve with tomato and cucumber salad.

To improve the nutritional profile of pizza, use half whole-wheat and half all-purpose flour, which yields a light crust with a distinctive nutty taste. Quick-rising yeast shortens rising time to just 10 minutes, making homemade pizza a possibility for busy weeknights. Use a food processor, stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or your hands to mix the dough. Add enough liquid to the dry ingredients to make a soft dough. If kneading by hand, toss, rather than push, the dough onto the counter for about 10 minutes; this allows the gluten to develop without incorporating too much flour.

Here's a creative way to use leftover cooked spaghetti: try mixing it with eggs for a filling Italian omelet. If you don't want to buy separate bunches of fresh herbs, look for an Italian blend package that may contain some of each or use one-third the amount of dried.

Lemon zest ties all the flavors together in this light and creamy pasta. Make it a meal: Serve with a salad of sliced fresh mozzarella and cherry tomatoes tossed with a little fresh basil, balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

In this eggplant pasta dish, diced eggplant turns tender when sautéed with garlic and olive oil. Toss with fresh plum tomatoes, green olives and capers and you have a simple, tasty sauce. We like the eggplant pasta sauce over angel hair pasta, but any type will work. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and a mixed green salad.

Vegetarians and meat-eaters alike will devour these comforting lasagna rolls. We use thinly sliced eggplant in place of pasta to cut the carbs. Preroasting the eggplant helps develop the flavor and softens the slices for easy rolling.

Sure, the slow cooker's great for stews and soups, but it also happens to make a mean lasagna! In this ingenious slow-cooker recipe, all you have to do is chop your veggies, then layer the ingredients (raw) into the crockpot. Serve with: Garlic bread and a green salad.

A well-stocked pantry is a good starting point for making a hearty homemade soup like this one--just add some fresh vegetables, bread and cheese and you've got dinner (and tomorrow's lunch).

This lightened-up lasagna packs in the nutrients with plenty of spinach, carrots, and mushrooms--plus satisfies cheese cravings with ricotta, mozzarella and Parmesan.

Perfect for a spring brunch or light supper, this Italian omelet is baked so it is easy to serve to a group.

A creamy pesto sauce turns this simple pasta salad into a delightful dinner. Adding broccoli to the pasta cooking water just before the pasta is done is a convenient way to briefly cook it so that it turns a vivid shade of green and softens slightly.

You won't believe how quick and easy it is to make this healthy pizza. Thanks to a two-ingredient dough that combines self-rising flour and Greek yogurt, there is no need for a rise time. Just roll, top and bake, and you'll have a delicious dinner on the table in under half an hour.

"Cacio e pepe" means "cheese and pepper" in Italian. This spaghetti dish, with fresh asparagus and baby arugula, is flavored with "cacio e pepe" and a little lemon zest. It's simple to prepare and on the table in just 25 minutes.