Healthy Italian Vegetarian Recipes

This simple chopped salad, inspired by the type of salad you might find at an Italian-American restaurant, has lots of texture and flavor, thanks to creamy cheese, briny olives and crisp fresh cucumber. The radicchio adds the classic red color as well as a slight bitterness that's balanced by the sweet sun-dried tomatoes.

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.

A summertime favorite--zucchini casserole--gets an Italian spin in this delicious and healthy side dish with tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. You can use zucchini or summer squash in this caprese-style casserole, or a combination of the two. A sprinkling of fresh basil and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar just before serving brightens up the flavors. Serve with grilled or roasted chicken and some quinoa, rice or couscous to soak up the juices from the casserole for a satisfying and easy dinner.

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.

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.

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.

Fresh or frozen ravioli cook in minutes and turn this light vegetable soup into a main course. Look for whole-wheat or whole-grain ravioli in the refrigerated or frozen section of the supermarket. Tortellini can be used instead of ravioli as well. Recipe by Nancy Baggett for EatingWell.

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.

In this vegetarian polenta casserole recipe, the choice of cheese is as important as which wild mushroom you use. Morel or hen of the woods (maitake) mushrooms give a more “meaty” experience, while chanterelle or cremini mushrooms will have a milder flavor. The polenta recipe calls for rich, nutty Taleggio or fontina cheese, but you can also use a good-quality washed rind cheese like Brie or Gouda.

Thai peanut sauce is an addictive base for homemade grilled pizza. Purchase your preferred brand at any large supermarket or Asian grocery store for an easy, veggie-loaded pizza made right at home.

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.

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.

This vegetarian lasagna couldn't be easier, thanks to jarred pasta sauce and no-boil lasagna noodles. Prep it in the morning and let your crock pot do the work.

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.

Give classic pasta salad a fresher, more flavorful spin. This fast pasta dish calls for avocado to replace some of the mayonnaise, which makes it extra creamy. Whole-wheat elbow macaroni and fresh vegetables lighten up this healthy pasta salad that you'll be making all summer long.

No-boil noodles help get this crowd-pleasing vegetarian lasagna in the oven fast. Using a mandoline isn't essential, but will make quick work of producing thin, uniform slices of roots that cook super-evenly and look stunning. Serve with a mixed green salad with red-wine vinaigrette and crusty bread.

This version of the Italian classic soup Minestrone is packed with leeks, potatoes, beans, zucchini, spinach and orzo, making it perfect for a hearty lunch or supper on a cold winter's night. To make a vegetarian version use vegetable rather than chicken broth. Top each bowl with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano for a zesty burst of flavor.

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.

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

A sprinkle of Parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil transform tomatoes into the perfect side dish. Or try sandwiching them between slices of your favorite whole-wheat country bread.

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.

Simple sautéed mushrooms are made sumptuous with the addition of red wine and rich mushroom or beef broth in this easy mushroom sauce recipe. Serve with steak or stir in a little sour cream and serve over egg noodles for a meat-free mushroom Stroganoff.

This garden-fresh tomato sauce is a delicious way to use summer-ripe tomatoes. Or freeze whole tomatoes and make this sauce later on in the winter. Just remove the cores and freeze them whole. Then, turn your frozen tomatoes into a garden-fresh sauce any time of the year. For pizza sauce: In Step 2, cook until thickened to about the consistency of pizza sauce, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Remove from the heat, transfer to a blender, add 2 tablespoons tomato paste and blend until smooth.

Skewering mozzarella balls and cherry tomatoes makes them easy to nosh at a party.