Risotto is as much a technique as it is a dish. It’s made by adding hot liquid to cooking rice, stirring all the while. The result is a creamy, full-flavored dish that is smooth but never mushy.

Have you noticed a vegetable that resembles an overgrown head of squashed celery? That's fennel. The bulb with the pretty, feathery leaves, is also called sweet fennel, finocchio, or Florence fennel. Some grocers mislabel it sweet anise. Fennel, which is native to the Mediterranean, shows up often in Italian and Greek cooking.

Have you noticed a vegetable that resembles an overgrown head of squashed celery? That's fennel. The bulb with the pretty, feathery leaves, is also called sweet fennel, finocchio, or Florence fennel. Some grocers mislabel it sweet anise. Fennel, which is native to the Mediterranean, shows up often in Italian and Greek cooking.