Parmesan

Combined with garlic, fresh chile, walnuts, olives, and Parmesan, the humble scallion is the basis for a delightfully earthy, toss-together topping for puff-pastry squares. As the tartlets bake, the scallions caramelize, turning golden, sweet, and intensely flavorful. Instead of individual tartlets, you can form the dough and filling into two large tarts: Roll out and cut pastry into two eight-inch squares, divide filling evenly between crusts, and bake thirty minutes.

This pie combines the ease of a galette—no need to attach a top crust or crimp any edges—with the convenience of oven-to-table serving. Before the tender dough is fitted in the pie plate, it is cut into flaps around the edge for neat, even folding over the filling. When the pie emerges from the oven, the tomatoes will be near bursting, their juices mingling with the cheeses, zucchini, and basil. It just might remind you of another delicious savory pie: pizza.

Baby leeks, sautéed until meltingly tender and arranged end to end, top this showstopping first course. Other components include Niçoise olives and two types of cheese—one fresh (Pavé d’Affinois, a soft cow’s milk cheese similar to Brie); the other aged (Parmigiano-Reggiano). If you can’t find baby leeks, you can use regular leeks, or if it’s springtime, look for ramps at a farmers’ market.

Creamed spinach is something we crave. Everyone else seems to love it too, because it’s soulfully satisfying. Another great thing about creamed spinach is that its high fat content allows it to freeze extremely well. Go ahead and make a double batch (and see if the other half actually makes it into the freezer). Swiss chard works just as well as spinach in this recipe. While this side is incredible on its own, wait until you try it with Chicken Meatballs (page 12).

Now this is the stuff. Rich beyond your wildest dreams, this sauce is not for the faint of heart. We think of it as Alfredo sauce on steroids, and it’s worth every calorie! At the Shop it’s a must-order with Chicken Meatballs (page 12). There’s pretty much nothing a ladle of this creamy sauce can’t improve—stir it into sautéed spinach for instant Creamed Spinach (page 100), or spoon it over steamed cauliflower, top with Parmesan cheese, and bake in the oven for the perfect gratin.

With its rich and subtle flavor, veal is one of the traditional meats used in Italian meatballs. Here we layer it with Parmesan cheese, oregano, and aromatic vegetables. At the Shop we use veal breast, which is inexpensive and has a relatively high fat content. It is a bit more work to butcher and grind, but it’s worth the exceptional outcome. Ask your butcher in advance to bone the breast and grind it for you. Serve with Sauce Vierge (page 65) and Braised Green Beans (page 101).

Sometimes you just gotta take a break from hard-core carnivordom, and these are the way to go—just ask our staff, who eat them around the clock. These balls happen to be Mike’s favorite, too. You’ll often find us at the bar with a big bowl, topped with Classic Tomato Sauce (page 56) or Spinach-Basil Pesto (page 58) and a side of steamed or sautéed spinach. And when it comes to kids, this is a great and tasty way to sneak in more veggies.

We use this versatile dressing on more than just salad greens. It makes a good dippin’ sauce for fried or grilled meats and veggies as well as a sauce for Chicken-Fried Chicken sandwiches (page 69) and Fried Green Tomatoes (page 28).

A few years back, we were closed on Sunday. People kept turnin’ up anyway, so we gave in and opened with a limited menu. We created this soup just for that day. It has a good Sunday vibe.

This is a good old Italian recipe that makes an appearance on our menu every once in a while. It’s brimmin’ with Old World flavors and looks damn good on the plate. It’ll keep your main courses from gettin’ boring.

When Beth first made this very simple zucchini dish (which she created for our parents), Daddy asked, “Honey, how’d you learn to cook?” I thought that was funny because I think what he was really wondering was how she’d learned to cook something that Mama didn’t make at home!

I love pasta—and who doesn’t? Because I didn’t grow up cooking Italian food, I usually save my Italian experiences for my favorite Italian restaurants, like La Mela in the heart of New York’s Little Italy and Anna’s in Los Angeles. But a gal’s gotta make fettuccine Alfredo occasionally. This is the very first home-cooked meal I tried on Garth, and I’m surprised he ever allowed me to cook for him again! It was early on in our relationship, and I wanted to impress him with my cooking skills, so I thought this recipe would be perfect. It is so rich it makes you full fast. That particular night, however, my Alfredo sauce came out so thick it was almost impossible to serve it from the pan. Garth, being the gentleman he is, took a big serving and attempted to eat it. I don’t know if he finished it all, but it was so rich and filling he almost fell asleep in his plate! He says he has no memory at all from about halfway through the meal until he woke up hours later on the couch.

Spinach artichoke dips seem to be on every restaurant’s appetizer list these days, and I like them okay but have never been a big spinach fan. Feta cheese, on the other hand, is something I’m very fond of, so I was excited to find this recipe. It’s also one of those really easy recipes that tastes like it must have been really hard to make. You gotta love those!

A note on ricers: For a young boy, a potato ricer is akin to magic. It’s more impressive than planes or satellites; it’s up there with fire trucks, guns, and large breasts. We use ricers a lot at Joe Beef—for potatoes, Madeira jelly for foie gras, fruit preserves, and polenta. One day, a hungover vegetable cook produced a plate of clumpy, amateur polenta. It was on the menu, so we couldn’t send out carrots and apologies. Instead, we just pressed it through the ricer. It came out freaking perfect, the clumps gone and the polenta shaped like rice, slowly falling in the butter. There we were, four grown-ups, as fascinated as ever with the potato ricer. The general rule for polenta is four parts water to one part cornmeal.

This salad is a traditional way to use up day-old bread; the dressing softens the bread and makes it a little more palatable. You can use fresh bread, but stale bread will hold up better under the dressing (super-fresh bread has a tendency to fall apart).

Like the grilled peaches on page 249, these figs can be served as an hors d’oeuvre, as the anchor for a green salad, or as a garnish for roast pork. Because you’re wrapping the prosciutto around the figs, it’s best to use slices from the widest part of the ham. If the prosciutto is smaller, buy two slices per fig and use toothpicks to secure the prosciutto around the figs.

Don’t limit yourself to basil in pesto. You can use just about any tender green herb—even baby arugula or spinach, or a combination of herbs. It’s a great way to use up whatever lingers in the bottom of your fridge. This flavorful sauce is perfect for a simple pasta dish. The nuts are optional, but they add a nice viscosity and flavor. Without them, you get a cleaner flavor and more of the true essence of the herbs. On the other hand, a nut-free version is looser and the oils don’t incorporate quite as well. Pesto definitely tastes best as soon as it’s made, but it also freezes incredibly well. Freeze in an ice cube tray and then transfer to a zip-top bag. The cubes are the perfect size for a single portion of pasta, veggies, or a sandwich.

Every time I make this gratin I get the same response: “This is so good!” Honestly, though, when you combine potatoes and squash with cream, sage, and cheese, how could it not be amazing? This gratin is especially well suited for dinner parties or any other time you need a hearty, make-ahead side dish. It scales up easily (just increase the ingredients and baking dishes accordingly), and it reheats wonderfully.

This salad is inspired by the incredible version I had at New York City’s Il Buco restaurant. One bite will convince you that compared to romaine, kale is a better match for assertive Caesar dressing. You can omit the egg yolk if you want to play it safe, but don’t try this without anchovy; it makes the dish. This version is crouton-less; if you add them, make a bit more dressing.

Adapted from a recipe from chef Gary Danko, who participated in the 1994 Workshop, this gratin relies on bread crumbs sprinkled between the vegetable layers to absorb the savory juices. After the gratin cools and settles, you can slice it like a cake and the layers will hold together. All the flavors that suggest a Provençal summer are gathered here—garlic and basil, tomato, fennel, and thyme. Serve the gratin with roast or grilled lamb or a store-bought spit-roasted chicken. Because it tastes best warm or at room temperature, you can bake it before dinner guests arrive.