Dairy

My kids, Ella, Lulu, and Harry, love making pizza at home and getting their hands in the dough. You don’t need a special oven to make great pizza at home, although I recommend purchasing a pizza stone from your local kitchen store to ensure a crispy and crunchy crust. While you are at it, pick up a pizza paddle too. They often are sold as a set and run only around $30, so they’re not a major investment. The pizza dough in Basics is extremely versatile and can be topped with basically anything you can come up with. Here I wanted to come up with a vegetarian pizza that was so packed with interesting flavors, no one would miss the meat. Radicchio and arugula provide a slightly bitter balance to the melted and wondrous cheeses.

I like taking foods I’ve grown up with and putting an adult spin on them. This knife-and-fork salad contains the elements of a BLT—bacon, lettuce, and tomato—but I replace the mayo with a big wedge of incredibly full-flavored Roaring Forties blue cheese. It’s important for the bacon to be superthick, almost like a ham steak. If you don’t make the bacon yourself, which is so beyond worth it, go to your local butcher and bring home slab bacon. There are only a handful of ingredients in this simple dish, but they are all important and shouldn’t be skimped on.

I’ll never understand why people don’t like beets—they’re wonderfully sweet and have a dense, meaty texture. When buying beets, I focus on what the leafy tops look like. The leaves should be fresh looking and dark green, not wilted. I shy away from baby beets, which I find to be unnecessarily pricey, as much as I stay away from huge rock-size ones. Heirloom tomatoes in a rainbow of colors add to this sunny summer salad—you won’t even miss the lettuce! Like all the vinaigrettes and dressings in this book, the recipe will make a fair amount. Leftover walnut vinaigrette will keep, covered, in the refrigerator for up to five days. It’s pretty thick and is ideal to spoon over grilled or steamed asparagus.

A salad of unusual qualities, this vividly colorful combo celebrates the exotic autumn fruits of persimmon and pomegranate. The fusion of tastes is awesome: peppery watercress, sweet-spicy persimmon, tart pomegranate seeds, and salty cheese, all held together by a tangy vinaigrette. Leftover pomegranate vinaigrette will keep covered in the refrigerator for up to one week and goes great with grilled meats.

I’m crazy about farro’s chewy-grainy goodness; this bright refreshing salad is the perfect complement to Grilled Leg of Lamb (page 163) and also makes a great little vegetarian lunch on its own.

Similar to ratatouille, this Sicilian classic is a vibrant stew made with eggplant, roasted bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, raisins, and olives mixed together with lots of good olive oil. It’s one of those dishes where the final product exceeds the sum of its parts. Fruity olive oil is essential to the success of this dish; it is the facilitator of all the ingredients. Caponata can be served warm or at room temperature, as an antipasto, a side dish, or a topping for Crostini (page 27) or pizza.

In my book, bacon-wrapped anything is good. Here crisp bacon and juicy peaches strike a perfect balance of salty and sweet. It’s hard to beat a fresh-picked slurpy peach, but these little bites are a sexy way to dress up the luscious summer fruit, making for a sophisticated, beautiful small plate.

A few years ago my wife, Tamara, and I started raising chickens in our backyard in Miami. It’s been a really funexperience and today we have eleven hens! With the coop comes lots of fresh eggs, so I’m always trying to find ways to use them creatively. This hearty onion soup is absolutely transcendent with a poached egg on top. When you cut into the egg, the runny yolk oozes into the soup, making it extra luxurious.

With only a handful of ingredients, this Tuscan peasant soup is deceptively simple, but tastes so rich and decadent, you’d swear there was cream in it. Heads up: blending the soup with olive oil is an important step to produce its velvety texture. The bread becomes suspended—almost like a custard—in the silky tomatoes; the basil adds a subtle perfume. Paired with nutty, gooey-smooth Fontina cheese sandwiches, this comfort food classic pushes all the right buttons.

Are two yolks better than one? You bet! I have a real fondness for double-yolk eggs. In fact, I think every egg should have two yolks—I’m not an egg-white-omelet kind of guy to be sure. Luckily, there’s a farmer in my area who farms nothing but fresh double-yolk eggs; it’s pretty cool. Now, assuming you might not be able to get these, for ease, I’ve simply added extra yolks to the recipe. Crack the eggs into a ramekin along with some tomato sauce and cheese, and bake until the egg whites begin to solidify while the cheese turns into a cap of melty goodness. This makes a great start to a hearty meal and can elevate an ordinary steak-and-eggs dish to a special brunch. Make it ahead and pop in the oven when almost ready to serve.

If you’ve never tasted gnudi before, you’re missing out! Gnudi are small dumplings made with ricotta and Parmesan cheese mixed with flour and seasonings. The result is a delicate cheesy-pillowy morsel that literally melts in your mouth. They are absolutely incredible simply boiled and served with brown butter and sage, but I like to take things one step further by frying these little guys. Fried gnudi are an unusual, addictive party snack that feeds a crowd and is not at all difficult to make at home. I would describe the taste as a cross between gnocchi and a French fry. There’s nothing better than that!

Super addictive, these delicious soft breadsticks are laced with garlic, cheese, and herbs on the inside and out. They make a fun handheld snack that’s a real crowd-pleaser. Serve them with Provençal Vinaigrette (page 240) or Lemon Aïoli (page 126) or just by themselves. Feel free to get creative and play with the ingredients, adding kick with chili powder or paprika, or for a Latin twist, try using cilantro, cumin, and cinnamon.

Luscious, juicy, and fragrant, apricots are one of the first signs of summer. The bright orange fruit is delicately sweet with a subtle tartness. Enjoy fresh apricots while you can—the season is short. Peaches make a fine substitute, however. This simple jam is made without messing with pectin and the list of ingredients couldn’t be shorter. These crostini are truly the perfect bite: the toast is crunchy, the fresh ricotta creamy, and the apricots luscious and bright.

I know what you are thinking . . . kimchi quesadilla?! It may sound strange, but trust me: spicy kimchi and gooey cheese is a killer combo. You can assemble these quesadillas ahead of time and simply cook ’em up when you need them. Served with a simple salad, these also make a terrific light lunch.

Golden and crisp on the outside with a moist, creamy interior, these polenta sticks, a modern twist on classic French fries, make a satisfying late-night snack or finger food. Making polenta is not as laborious as some would have you believe. It’s not necessary to stand over the pot for an hour constantly stirring until your arm is falling off. The key to making perfectly cooked polenta is to stir often, running a wooden spoon along the bottom of the pot so the cornmeal doesn’t stick and burn. This is an ideal make-ahead recipe; prepare the polenta in the morning and cut into sticks just before frying. For an outdoor barbecue, try putting the polenta on the grill; it adds a phenomenal smoky flavor. This salsa’ed-up ketchup is perfect to keep in the fridge for four to five days. The polenta fries and ketchup will happily join Michael’s Genuine Burger (page 118).

A rich, creamy dip is a must-have for any good party. Make this onion dip ahead of time so the flavors can blend and mellow. If making the chips, for best results, you’ve got to cut the potatoes with a mandoline. If you don’t want to fry your own potato chips, try one of the terrific brands in the market these days. This dip is also killer with crudités and pita chips, or even spread on a burger.

Carolina Gold rice “grits” from Anson Mills are short, uneven pieces of rice that have been broken during the threshing process. They cook up creamier than long-grain white rice, which can be substituted in this recipe: pulse it in batches in a spice mill or clean coffee grinder for 5 seconds to create the same effect.

Colcannon is a traditional Irish dish of boiled potatoes mashed with green onions, leeks or sometimes chives, kale or cabbage, and milk or cream. I like mine extremely green, with lots of black pepper.