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In this campfire version of an Italian classic, the steak is cooked on the coals, though bistecca fiorentina is traditionally cooked on a grill over the coals. Of course you can make it on a very hot grill or griddle pan if you choose, but it’s fun to watch your steak cook directly on the coals. Choose the best steak you can afford. Add a side of creamy White Tuscan Beans with Sausage (page 119) and you’ve got a magnificent yet simple meal. Buon appetito!

Salade niçoise is traditionally a composition of tender seasonal lettuces, green beans, baby potatoes, olives, and the best-quality tuna packed in olive oil. This version features tuna steaks grilled perfectly, then broken into chunks. You can substitute your favorite seasonal vegetables if you choose. This salad should not be chilled.

Panzanella is a rustic Italian bread salad, created to use leftover bread. The vibrant tomatoes add moisture to the stale bread for a great summer main course or side dish. In this version, the bread is grilled for extra flavor. If your tomatoes are not at the peak of flavor, grill them, cut side down, until marked to bring out their natural sugars. Cut them into chunks and toss in the dressing before adding to the salad.

This is a dish you can make with little preparation or cooking time. Anyone can be a successful shrimp griller. The key things to remember are: (1) brine the shrimp to assure moistness; (2) grill them with the shells on; (3) don’t overcook them. The brightly flavored vinaigrette can be served with any other grilled fish or even chicken.

This combination of sweet, succulent halibut and spring vegetables in a golden saffron broth is visually seductive, while the earthy fragrance of saffron, favas, and mushrooms is intoxicating! Paula Wolfert’s easy method of preparing fava beans makes this dish much easier to prepare.

This recipe from award-winning cookbook author John Ash features plank roasting, an old technique used by the Northwest Indians who tied or nailed salmon to cedar or alder planks and tilted them over an open fire to cook. The cure in this recipe flavors the fish and acts as a brine to keep it moist.

Tandoori chicken is easily identified by its red color and is named for the oven it’s cooked in. The tandoor is a cylindrical clay or ceramic oven heated to temperatures of 550° to 750°F or more. Meat and vegetables are skewered, then lowered into the oven. The high heat creates a crisp crust and leaves the meat moist. For the best flavor, marinate overnight. The red food coloring is optional. This recipe is adapted to a grill or Big Green egg ceramic cooker, which is the next best thing to an actual tandoor oven.

The Swiss chard in this dish has a slightly bitter flavor that works well with the fragrant fennel and salty olives. The sliced meat is topped with a delicious uncooked Italian sauce thickened with leftover bread and pulverized toasted nuts.

Lamb, pomegranate, and apricots is a classic Mediterranean combination. Pomegranate molasses, which is sometimes called pomegranate concentrate, is a pantry staple in parts of the Mediterranean. It serves as a meat tenderizer as well as a flavor enhancer. Look for it in specialty foods stores, or online (see Resources). Serve this dish with a rice pilaf or couscous. Note: You will need 16 wooden skewers for this recipe.

A rich, fragrant dish, these duck breasts are perfumed with the aromatics of southwest France, then grilled to crisp the fatty skin. Served sliced and fanned over tender baby greens lightly dressed with citrus vinaigrette, this is a wonderful dish to serve as a first course or as a light main course.

Italian cuisine often features stuffed and rolled meat or fish. This recipe uses inexpensive yet flavorful flank steak. Pounded chicken or turkey breast, pork loin, or fish can be substituted. The grilled rolls are sliced into beautiful spirals and serve with gremolata reserved from the stuffing and a wonderful wood-roasted wine sauce.

Cookbook author Joanne Weir is known for her flavor-packed Mediterranean-inspired food. Her book From Tapas to Meze shows the breadth of her Mediterranean influences. Here, Joanne shares a favorite pizza recipe that we adapted for grilling using a Tuscan grill that fits into the fireplace of her home in San Francisco. The bitter escarole on this pizza is balanced by the sweet pine nuts, creamy cheeses, and the salty olives. The dough for a grilled pizza needs a bit more structure from gluten to keep it from oozing through the grates of the grill, which is why this one is kneaded for a longer time than other pizza doughs.

These stuffed flatbreads are shaped much like meat-filled galettes. Lamb is the meat of choice in many Mediterranean cuisines, and here it is combined with other key ingredients of the region—eggplant and pomegranate—along with the warm aromatics often used in Turkish cuisine.

Coca is the Spanish version of pizza. Here, it is spread with my Smoky Romesco Sauce, a basic in the Spanish pantry. When topped with green onions, roasted potatoes, and sliced hard-cooked eggs, it is an edible canvas of the sunny colors and flavors of this part of the Mediterranean.

This pizza could be named Umami Pizza because it features the earthy flavors of mushrooms and Gorgonzola cheese. The radicchio provides a slightly bitter flavor for contrast and adds color. Sautéing the mushrooms and garlic in the wood-fired oven adds an additional layer of flavor.

This is one of my favorite savory calzones because the filling is so delicious. The sausage and onions become smoky because they are first cooked in the wood-fired oven. Spinach is a natural with these two ingredients. The creamy, slightly nutty fontina cheese is a great companion to the toasted pine nuts. This combination would be wonderful on a pizza as well.

(Note that this is always called a stew but it is actually a braise, because the meat is browned.)