A Vegetarian Italian Dinner Party

In the depths of winter, a hearty Italian meal with long-simmered sauces, fall-apart tender braises, and rich wines is just about the best thing there is. But now that there's a ripple of warm in the air, we're ready for something lighter and fresher. Enter our Vegetarian Italian dinner party menu, a multifaceted meal that features some of the best the cucina has to offer: Sicilian sweet-sour eggplant caponata, Florentine zabaglione, and the decidedly Italian-American Pasta Primavera, invented at New York restaurant Le Cirque in the 1970s. Add some creamy, savory goat cheese and a bright citrus-fennel salad, pair with a bottle of fantastic Sicilian wine, and enjoy!

When baked, these marinated cheeses are great spread on crusty bread or served with a tart, rustic salad. The marinade can be reused or whisked into a vinaigrette.

This classic sweet and sour eggplant dish is rich and sweetened with caramelized onions and raisins. This recipe appeared in our March 2011 issue as a part of our special feature, Soul of Sicily.

In Sicily, this salad is traditionally prepared with wild chicory, a slightly peppery, tender-leafed green. Substitute with arugula if you can't find wild chicory.

Sirio Maccioni, the well-known restaurateur of Le Cirque fame, has been acknowledged for creating this dish.

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In Italian, sbaglione means big mistake. This popular dessert may have been "mistakenly" invented, probably in Florence—though it is usually made with marsala, the famous sweet wine of Sicily.

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