Olive

Pleasantly bitter escarole adds balance to a rich vegetarian stew brightened with feta cheese and green Castelvetrano olives.

One simple master recipe, based on a classic French pain de mie, proves endlessly changeable—feel free to think of the five suggestions that accompany it here as merely a start, and let your imagination take it from there.

Smoked almonds and black olives are our suggestions for this appetizer, but use any nut or olive that you like.

A healthy dose of olive oil gives this rosemary-infused bread a rich, moist crumb and pale golden hue; it also helps it keep a little better than other European-style breads. Among other things, this is a wonderful and unconventional loaf for sandwiches.

Of course, you can just roast a chunk of pork loin and spoon tapenade over it, but when you stuff the tapenade inside the roast, it will look all swirled and magical when sliced. It’s not that hard to do, really—two strategic cuts, a smear, a row of knotted strings—more basic butchery than brain surgery.

Radiating the aromas of toasted cumin and coriander, and spiked with the salty-sour pucker of cured lemons and olives, this chicken stew produces a heady effect. If you can’t find preserved lemons in your local food markets (high-end stores usually stock them), you can order them or make them yourself.

You probably already have everything you need to make this pasta in your pantry.

Use prosciutto if Serrano is unavailable, and make sure the relish is nice and acidic to stand up to the richness of the ham and eggs. This recipe is from Morcilla, one of Bon Appétit's Hot 10, America's Best New Restaurants 2016.

There is no better beach or picnic sandwich: It feeds a crowd, gets better as it sits, and is a hearty meal built inside a loaf of bread. About that bread: Unless you live in New Orleans and can get the real thing, opt for a ciabatta or other loaf with a sturdy but not too crusty exterior.

Summer squash forms the base of this play on ratatouille, with pan-seared eggplant and cherry tomatoes rounding things out.

Italian-food purists might balk at the combination of clams and Parm, but we swear it’s delicious.

Cerignola and Castelvetrano olives are big, briny, meaty, and sweet. If unavailable, use other types, or simplify with just one.