There are certain foods that can transport us somewhere else before we’ve even taken the first bite. For me, Italian food often takes me straight back to Italy.

For several years, I traveled there for a few weeks in the spring and again in the fall while studying for a master’s program in homeopathy in Bologna. Food became part of those memories almost without my realizing it. I ate wonderful meals everywhere I went—even at the monastery where I stayed, where the monks prepared our food. What stayed with me wasn’t elaborate cooking so much as the simplicity of it. Beautiful tomatoes. Fresh basil. Olive oil. Pasta. A little cheese. Ingredients allowed to taste like themselves, somehow becoming extraordinary when brought together.

I think about those meals whenever I make these stuffed shells.

I intentionally keep the tomato sauce simple because that’s what I remember loving in Italy. Tomato and garlic don’t need much help, especially when they’re wrapped around tender pasta filled with creamy ricotta and fresh basil. The basil often comes straight from my garden, and I use it generously. Once everything is tucked together and baked until bubbling, it’s difficult to believe such familiar ingredients can become something that feels this special.

It’s also one of Lloyd’s favorite dishes, which gives me another reason to make it often.

I especially love making stuffed shells when we’re having friends for dinner. They look beautiful coming out of the oven and feel almost gourmet when you bring the whole bubbling dish to the table, yet most of the work can be done ahead. I usually have homemade tofu ricotta in the refrigerator, but when I don’t, a good store-bought almond ricotta makes the whole thing remarkably quick. No one sitting at the table needs to know how little effort dinner actually required.

Depending on the season, I change what I serve alongside it. In summer, it might be a tomato and cucumber salad with chunks of vegan mozzarella, fresh basil, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper. Or I’ll make a simple Caprese-style salad with beautiful homegrown or farmers market tomatoes, slices of vegan mozzarella, and basil leaves tucked between them. In winter, a cup of roasted tomato soup alongside the shells turns it into one of those cozy dinners everyone at the table seems to love.

And while this is wonderful company food, it doesn’t need an occasion. I’ve happily eaten a few shells for lunch and looked forward to the leftovers the next day. That’s part of what I love about it—it can feel generous and special without demanding very much from the cook.

Perhaps that’s something I carried home from Italy without knowing it at the time: good food doesn’t have to be complicated to make people want to linger at the table. Sometimes pasta, tomatoes, basil, and something creamy tucked inside are more than enough.

That’s exactly the kind of cooking I want from Meals for When You Don’t Want to Try—food simple enough for an ordinary day, yet wonderful enough to serve when someone you love pulls up a chair.