Italian Diabetic Recipes

Who doesn't love pasta with a quick meat sauce? This crowd-pleasing healthy spaghetti Bolognese recipe is a boon for busy cooks--it's ready and on the table in just 40 minutes.

Trapanese pesto is the Sicilian version of the sauce that uses tomatoes and almonds instead of pine nuts. This savory pesto sauce coats low-carb zucchini noodles and heart-healthy seared salmon to create an absolutely delicious pasta dinner.

Turn the bounty of summer basil into a delicious sauce with this easy pesto recipe. Try it stirred into a tomato or potato salad, or spread onto a sandwich in place of your favorite condiment.

The concentrated sweetness of slow-roasted tomatoes balanced with savory thyme and a touch of red-wine vinegar makes this healthy pesto recipe a must-try for any tomato lover. Try it in place of tomato sauce on your next pizza or as a “secret” ingredient in your next lasagna.

This quickly pickled, spicy Italian salad of mixed sliced vegetables is great for an antipasto platter, served with grilled meat or chopped up and put on a sandwich.

This is a version of the famous meat sauce of Emilia Romagna, of which Bologna is the capital. Giuliano Hazan's family is from Emilia Romagna, and he learned to make Bolognese sauce from his mother, Marcella, who learned it from her grandmother, Mary. Its classic pairing is with homemade tagliatelle or pappardelle but it's also very good with rigatoni, shells or any substantial pasta shape, preferably one with ridges, that has nooks and cavities to trap the sauce. Adapted from How to Cook Italian by Giuliano Hazan; Scribner, 2005.

The cheese in this dish is the key to the balance of flavors. For the biggest impact, make sure to use imported Italian cheese.

This marinated vegetable salad recipe is a colorful composed salad inspired by the classic Italian giardiniera. Serve on a platter as is or on a bed of crisp greens. For a heartier appetizer or light lunch, add 1/2 cup each diced salami and hard cheese, such as Provolone or even white Cheddar, to the mix.

In this version, the eggs are cooked into a custardlike sauce. An extra step, yes, but the technique ensures food safety. To vary the vegetables, try green beans, asparagus or frozen peas (cook peas separately from pasta).

These calzones are stuffed with a summery combination of corn and broccoli, but you can use whatever you have in your fridge. Part-skim ricotta and mozzarella make our pizza pockets lower in saturated fat. Plus a whole-wheat crust adds a nutty flavor and extra fiber. Serve with your favorite marinara sauce for dipping.

For this healthy rabbit stew recipe, lean rabbit or chicken thighs are cooked with tons of vegetables and flavorful olives and capers. For the sweet-and-sour flavor, a red-wine vinegar and honey reduction is added at the end. Serve with crusty bread to sop up the delicious sauce.

The intense blend of spices in these cookies is a tip of the hat to Venice's history as a conduit for the spice trade between Europe and the Far East.

A fresh marinated tomato and fennel salad serves as the perfect base for these grilled tuna steaks. This is a 20-minute meal that you'll be proud to serve to family and guests.

Venice was built on saltwater marshes in the 6th century, and many local crops like the city's Sant'Erasmo artichokes, have a delicate taste of the sea. For this healthy salad artichokes are sliced thin--a great use for a mandolin if you have one--and served raw. When paired with the sweet-salty shrimp the combo evokes the flavors of the lagoon. For tender and tasty results, buy the smallest, freshest artichokes you can find.

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.