An irresistibly creamy sauce with sliced mushrooms, perked up with onions, green chillies and oregano. What makes this Mushroom Sauce a bit different from other white sauce based recipes is that it contains onions, which is essential in this case to enhance the flavour of the mushrooms. While making the Mushroom Sauce, ensure that it does not become too thick – the consistency should enable pastas to be tossed in it.

A very unusual pizza made with Pita bread as its base, the Mediterranean Pizza replaces pizza sauce with a luscious and pungent chilli garlic hummus. The strong flavour of garlic and the earthy flavour of kabuli chana act as a wonderful base for typical pizza toppings like olives, capsicum, onions and cottage cheese. A dash of herbs, common seasonings like chilli flakes, and of course a garnish of cheese before baking complete the pizza effect. An innovative and off-beat treat that you are sure to love, the Mediterranean Pizza will also earn you your guests’ applause! Try other Lebanese recipes like Orange Sesame Tabbouleh and Fattoush .

The word cannelloni is derived from 'canna' and literally means big tubes of pasta. Pasta sheets are cooked, filled and rolled up into a cylindrical shape to form cannelloni. This recipe is a lighter alternative to the cheese and calorie laden traditional recipe. Filled with baby corn, mushrooms and spinach, the cannelloni is coated with a creamy white sauce. You can buy ready cannelloni sheet instead of making it at home. Serve this recipe with garlic bread and tossed green salad.

This is, without a doubt, my favourite skewer recipe and I’m sure it will become yours too, if you try it just once! Usually skewers and kebabs require lot of oil for cooking, making them a ‘prohibited’ food for diabetics. No more crest-fallen faces! Here is a modified, healthy recipe with less oil and using nutrient-rich tofu (soya paneer). Tofu is easily available in the market. Those who suffer from diabetes are prone to infections, and require a high dose of immune-boosting nutrients like proteins, vitamin A,C, zinc etc. Ingredients like tofu, capsicum and mushroom provide a sufficient dose of these vital nutrients. Cooked on a non-stick pan with less oil, it is a perfect lip-smacking snack that can be had without worrying about an increasing waist-line or an angry look from the physician during your next health check-up!

Macaroni fits well into almost any baked dish. Here's a quick combo of macaroni and vegetables, which satiates your hunger pangs and delights your taste buds at the same time.

Potato and cheese… both are hot favorites with kids! Cheese is high in protein and calcium, a perfect food for growing kids; however it is better to restrict its intake... no thanks to its high fat content. I have used mozzarella cheese instead of cooking cheese as its fat content is comparatively lower.

This innovative version of the traditional Dauphnoise potatoes is sure to win you the compliments of even expert food connoisseurs!

Celebrate, Italian-style! Gnocchi are Italian dumplings, which are made of spinach, potato and flour. They can either be poached or steamed. These dumplings are made on special occasions or festivals in Italy. Marinara is a chunky tomato sauce cooked with oregano. Put both together, and it is indeed a festive meal!

The Spinach and Tofu Dip is a combination of spinach and tofu with pungent onions and aromatic herbs makes this dip as wholesome and flavourful as a subzi itself! The nutty flavour and mealy texture of tofu complements the spinach very well, and so do not replace it with any other ingredient! Grind the mixture coarsely to get the best mouth-feel, and also make sure you drain all the water after blanching the spinach to avoid ending up with a watery dip that one could easily mistake for a soup!

The Pasta and Vegetable Sizzler in Tomato Sauce is a treat not just to the taste buds, but to all the other senses too. In fact, the making of a sizzler is a pleasure to watch. If you have never watched it being prepared by the chef at a party, then this recipe is your chance to recreate the magic in your own kitchen. A line-up of veggies smartly categorized by their cooking time, are added one after the other to the sizzler plate to be sautéed in butter and positioned appropriately like actors performing on a stage. Then come the pasta and the tangy tomato sauce, to take the lead positions at the centre of the formation, all set to be devoured by a discerning diner!

Jains miss out on most sauces and dips as they contain onion and garlic. Here is a jain-friendly italian tomato sauce, in which capsicum along with motley spices and herbs complement the natural flavour of juicy tomatoes, to ensure a wonderful flavour and aroma. Prepare and store this sauce for use with various snacks, pizzas, pastas, and such.

Capture and delight in the aroma that wafts through the air, as the cheese sauce is poured over these sizzling exotic vegetables. A sizzler plate is best for this recipe, but you could even use a regular griddle instead. You can also try other Jain International recipes like Spinach Cheese Cigars with Honey Chilli Sauce or Pesto Penne .

A calzone is like a folded over stuffed pizza. The circle of pizza dough is folded in half over the filling and then sealed. During baking, the pizza dough swells somewhat until it resembles a "stuffed stocking", the literal translation of word calzone. Sautéed vegetables and cheese aromatized with herbs is the filling for this calzone. You can vary the vegetable combination if you like. For a change, try frying the calzone until golden brown in hot oil. You will find that it is easier to handle the calzone during frying when it has been formed into appetiser sized calzonetti (or smaller calzones). Calzone can stand alone as a substantial snack or combined with a green salad and soup, it makes an easy dinner.

Very often we impress our guests with this robust italian pasta dish baked in tomato sauce and cheese. You would be surprised to know that one serving of this dish provides 434 calories against its low fat version which adds upto only 190 calories per serving. To minimize your calorie intake, check out the low calorie version of cannelloni.