Was invited to a girl's night where everyone has to bring an Italian dish. I'm not a good cook, but I do want to make something instead of just buying it at the store. Please help

buy the frozen ravioli and boil them off. Heat up some sauce and presto. Thats Italian in like 12 minutes. Doing homemade Italian at home in 30 minutes... why don't you just ask for the moon.

Bruschetta INGREDIENTS: Bread, ideally freshly sliced Garlic Extravirgin Olive oil Salt Beans or tomatoes (optional) Hot coals, if possible--but toaster works! PREPARATION: You will need 4 six-inch wide slices of Tuscan bread. Toast them, over the coals if possible (though a toaster will work fine if need be) gently rub them with a cut clove of garlic (you don’t want to overwhelm the oil), then drizzle them with good olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste, cut the slices in half, and serve. Serves 4. There are lots of variations to bruschetta. One of the tastiest: After rubbing the slices with the garlic, rub them with a very ripe cut tomato as well (or spread a thin layer of chopped tomatoes seasoned with basil, salt & pepper over the slices). Then sprinkle with olive oil and season. In addition to being a fine appetizer, this is a traditional merenda, or afternoon snack. And another: Boil cannellini (white) beans, use a slotted spoon to spoon them over the toasted bread, season the bruschetta with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and serve. In my experience, people ask for seconds and thirds of this variation

Here you go, sweetie, easy Italian recipes with pictures to guide you. Click onto the recipe and then scroll down the screen for recipe and picture. Have fun at the party: http://www.italyum.com/

This isn't REAL Italian cooking, but still really yummy...Plus it's easy for a beginning cook. I'll give you the easy recipe instead of the homemade one like I make. Penne pasta, boil it. 2 jars of ragu (any flavor you like) mozzerella cheese (2 cups) chicken, meatballs or sausage (you can buy precooked at the grocery store to save time) set your oven to 375. mix up the sauce, cooked pasta, your meat, top with cheese, let bake till cheese is melted and lightly browned, about 25-30 minutes. voila, you're done, great dish! mmmm, it'll be your new fave meal, it's yummy :D

Ok, well you said you want to make something instead of buying it, so here goes. (Kudos to you for that, by the way!) Homemade pasta is incredibly easy to make. Combine flour, pepper, dried oregano in a bowl. Whisk an egg with a little olive oil, pour that into the middle. Keep adding very cold water until the dough comes together. Mix it with your hands. Roll it out thin and cut it into interesting shapes. Drop it into boiling water. It will take less time to cook than dried pasta. I think this will go over well. Your friends will say, "Where did you buy this interesting looking pasta?" Your reply- "I made it from scratch!" An easy sauce for this: one large can of whole peeled tomatoes, combined with some fresh chopped basil. Crush the tomatoes with your hands, simmer them in a pot, throw in the chopped basil, and add a little salt and pepper. This sauce is very rustic and chunky, with plenty of lovely juice in between. Don't forget that when you take the pasta out of the water, you don't want to rinse it. A lot of people do this to keep the noodles from sticking together. Instead, toss the pasta with the sauce right away, and instead of the noodles sticking together, the sauce will stick to them.

Hail Caesar Salad 1 loaf day old Italian bread 3 garlic cloves, mashed 9 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1/4 teaspoon plus 1 pinch kosher salt 2 eggs 2 heads romaine lettuce, inner leaves only 7 grinds black pepper 1 lemon, juiced 6 drops Worcestershire sauce 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut ½� to ¾� croutons from the loaf of bread and place on a baking sheet and put into the oven until dry but not browned. Use a mortar and pestle to mash the garlic with 4 tablespoons of oil and 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt. Strain the oil into a skillet over medium heat. Add the dried croutons and fry, tossing constantly until all of the oil is absorbed and the croutons turn gold. Set aside. Bring 2 cups water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the eggs and cook for 1 minute. Chill in ice water to halt cooking. Set aside. In a very large bowl, tear lettuce and toss with 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Sprinkle with the remaining kosher salt and the black pepper. Add the remaining olive oil. Toss well. Add the lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce. Break in the eggs. Toss until a creamy dressing forms. Toss in Parmesan cheese and serve with croutons. --Alton Brown

From http://www.recipeomnibus.com There are many more recipes there. SPINACH "ALLA ROMANA" 1. Clean and prepare the spinach. 2. Put one pint of cold water with one tablespoon of salt on to boil, and when it boils put in the spinach. 3. When the spinach is cooked--in about ten minutes--drain it in a colander, and rinse it in cold water for a short while to stop the cooking. 4. Then squeeze out all the water with your hands. 5. Put three tablespoons of olive-oil into a frying-pan; when this is thoroughly hot add the spinach, salt, and pepper. Cook for a few moments, stirring well with a fork and spoon, so the oil will permeate the spinach; then serve. Do not chop the spinach.