278 recipes. Page 8 of 12
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Warm corn tortillas carry a layer of half-mashed black beans, a fried egg, and a tomato salsa sharpened with jalapeño. What makes the plate go soggy is water: the salsa should be reduced until a spoon leaves a trail, and the beans thick enough to spread. Cook the whites fully, and use pasteurized eggs for a runny yolk. A squeeze of lime at the end is optional.
Wild boar shoulder spends a night in red wine with juniper berries and rosemary, then cooks down slowly into a ragù for wide ribbons of pappardelle. The juniper's piney edge suits the dark, gamey meat. Use boar sold for eating, and cook it through to the center of the thickest pieces.
Gamtae, a fine Korean seaweed, crumbles between your fingers into flakes that cover the shrimp and avocado with a light sea flavor. Lime juice, soy sauce and a little honey cut through the richness of the avocado, while red onion soaked in cold water adds crunch without the sharp bite. Blanching the shrimp for only 2 minutes and chilling them straight away keeps them springy rather than dry.
Thin semolina dough, stretched by oiled hands rather than a rolling pin, wraps a tomato and onion filling that has already been cooked down and cooled. Cooking the vegetables first keeps their juice from soaking the folded square as it browns in the pan. The vegetable oil in the list is for hands, work surface and pan, not something poured into the dough. With one pan, ten pancakes cook in sequence, so the griddle stage is the longest part of the job.
Finely grated yellow zest melts into warm butter and carries the lemon scent through the whole sauce. The grater stays shallow, since the white pith underneath adds bitterness. The small amount of cream is only warmed until bubbles show at the edge, because a hard boil splits it. Starchy pasta water, added a little at a time with the Parmesan, emulsifies everything into a sauce that coats the linguine smoothly, and the plates go out before it tightens. With little more than lemon, butter, cream and Parmesan, this southern Italian pasta comes together in about 20 minutes, an easy weeknight dinner.
Dried persimmon cut into rounds shows a chewy, almost jammy center that contrasts with soft spoonfuls of ricotta. Bitter chicory and peppery arugula balance its concentrated sweetness, and walnuts and pine nuts toasted in a dry pan add a warm, nutty smell. When the persimmon is especially sweet, a little more balsamic vinegar brings the plate back into balance.
With only tomato, mozzarella and basil on top, a Margherita lives or dies by its base. The baking tray heats inside the oven during preheating and gives the dough a strong first hit of heat, which firms the center instead of leaving it soft. Mozzarella drained, torn by hand and scattered with gaps keeps its moisture from pooling and browns in spots. The sauce stays thin with the rim left bare, since too much of it turns the crust soggy. A thin center and a slightly thicker rim give the edge room to puff. Basil, Parmesan and olive oil are added after baking, when their aroma is still fresh.
Despite the name, this Neapolitan ragu has nothing to do with Genoese basil pesto, and it contains no tomato. One story credits cooks or merchants from Genoa for the name. A large amount of onion cooks down with beef chuck for at least 90 minutes until it nearly dissolves into the sauce, with white wine adding acidity. Even on low heat the onion likes to catch on the bottom of the pot and needs a stir now and then. The beef is then pulled into strands, and ziti hold the thick, sweet onion sauce well under a generous grating of Parmigiano.
Grapefruit segments and a yuja marmalade dressing layer two kinds of citrus, one juicy and tart, the other floral. Thin ribbons of shiso, with their minty, herbal edge, tidy up any fishiness from the shrimp, while cucumber and radish supply crunch. Served cold, every element tastes sharper.
Drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes flavor the cream sauce without thinning it, carrying less water than fresh ones. Pounding the breasts to about 2cm lets them cook through without scorching. The browned bits left after searing the chicken get loosened with stock and become the base of the sauce. Once the cream is in, a gentle bubble at the edges keeps it from splitting, and the chicken simmers on in it until the thickest part reaches 74°C. The parmesan melts in off the heat, and since tomatoes and cheese both add salt, taste before adding any more.
Eggplant salted for 10 minutes and pressed dry browns in the pan instead of steaming, keeping a firm center under a golden surface. The dish comes from Catania in Sicily, where the browned eggplant flavors a simple tomato sauce that clings to the spaghetti.
Octopus that has already been boiled goes into a very hot pan for 2 to 3 minutes without turning, picking up a charred edge while the inside stays pleasantly chewy. The vinegar dressing, with gochugaru and garlic, starts sour and finishes with gentle heat. Minari, Korean water parsley, brings a cool grassy scent and a green that stands out against strips of red pepper.
Meatballs browned on the outside finish cooking in a thick tomato sauce, then go into warm sub rolls under melted mozzarella. Breadcrumbs and egg hold the mixture together, so mix it with your fingertips only until it holds and shape the balls without packing them; heavy kneading makes them dense. The pan only colors the outside, leaving the centers to finish in the sauce. The sauce stays thick on purpose: anything runny soaks the bread before you reach the last bite, so reduce it a little longer if it looks watery. Melt the cheese under a broiler or with a torch just until it blankets the meatballs, and serve before the rolls soften.
Some of the crisped guanciale is held back from the tomato sauce and scattered over the bucatini with pecorino at the end, so the plate has two textures: pork softened in the sauce and crunchy pieces on top. The clear fat it renders over medium-low heat is what the tomatoes cook in. Cutting the guanciale into thick batons keeps it from drying out.
Peach wedges seared on a grill pan for 1 to 2 minutes per side caramelize at the cut edges and gain a concentrated sweetness and faint smokiness that raw fruit never has. Torn burrata spills its cream over the warm fruit, while peppery arugula and crunchy walnuts cut through all that cream. A zigzag of balsamic glaze ties the sweet and tangy notes together, and the salad is at its best in midsummer peach season.
Finely chopped green and black olives in olive oil soak into a round loaf and season the salami, ham, mortadella and provolone layered inside. Filling and pressing the whole loaf before slicing binds the layers and keeps the cut faces neat. The olives are drained well, and only enough oil goes in to keep the salad moist without pooling at the bottom of the bread.
The broth turns thick enough to coat a spoon without any cream, thanks to mashed chickpeas and the starch from ditalini cooked right in the pot. Whole chickpeas and the small pasta keep some bite, while rosemary and tomato paste give it a warm, savory base. It sits somewhere between soup and pasta, and is eaten with a spoon.
Bitter, crunchy doraji (bellflower root) and sweet-tart orange segments meet over squid seared hard on high heat. Scoring the squid body in a crosshatch keeps it from curling as it cooks, and 1 to 2 minutes per side is enough to leave it bouncy. Shredded by hand and soaked in salted water for 5 minutes, the root loses its harsh bitterness and mixes in without tasting raw. After the soak it is rinsed and squeezed dry so it does not water down the dressing. A dressing of yuzu marmalade, vinegar and chili flakes adds floral acidity and a low hum of heat that links the three.
Thick slices of button mushroom take the place of beef, seared over high heat until browned, then finished in a sour cream sauce over very low heat. The two stages pull in opposite directions: mushrooms left to stew in their own water turn gray and soft, and sour cream boiled at the end curdles. Paprika tints the sauce and adds gentle warmth.
Broccoli, zucchini, bell pepper, and peas each keep their own bite in this light spaghetti, which uses no cream at all. A splash of pasta water turns the olive oil into a thin glossy coating, leaving the vegetables to carry most of the flavor. The broccoli needs a head start and the peas go in last; the pan comes off the heat once the colors brighten and only the edges soften, before anything turns limp. Whatever vegetables are at their freshest work in the same way.
In a dry, hot pan, halloumi holds its shape and browns into a golden crust while the inside turns squeaky and chewy. It needs only 2 to 3 minutes per side; longer and it turns rubbery. Its saltiness meets thin slices of sweet persimmon head-on, and peppery arugula makes the pairing feel lighter. Red onion soaked in cold water for 10 minutes or more loses its sharpness and stops crowding out the fruit and cheese. White balsamic, paler and gentler than the dark kind, dresses the plate without muddying the orange fruit.
Bite-size potato cubes roast on a hot tray rather than in a fryer, picking up firm, crisp edges before a smoky, spicy tomato sauce is spooned over them. Rinsing the cut cubes until the water runs clearer, drying every surface and spacing them apart on the tray gives those edges their crunch, since wet or crowded pieces steam.
Blended with walnuts, perilla leaves make a pesto whose scent recalls perilla oil: slightly bitter, quietly nutty and nothing like basil. Bite-size pieces of chicken breast stay lean and plain, letting the pesto carry the flavor, and the hollow penne fill with sauce.
Tomato, cucumber and red onion are diced to half a centimeter or smaller, so a single spoonful carries juice, crunch and bite in equal measure. With only lemon juice, olive oil and salt as dressing, the ripeness of the tomatoes decides almost everything.