Modern Comfort Food

Pita Burgers with Crisped Cheese

This burger, inspired by the popular folded cheeseburger served at Miznon, an Israeli restaurant with multiple locations, is seasoned with yellow mustard for spicy tang and dill pickles for brininess. We then fill pita halves with the mixture, forming

By Courtney HillOctober 17, 2023

Berbere-Spiced Red Lentils

This lentil stew is our spin on the Ethiopian dish called misir wat. It’s seasoned with berbere, a rich, complex, aromatic Ethiopian blend of warm spices, savory dried alliums and red chilies. Look for berbere in spice shops or in well-stocked grocery

By Diane UngerJune 2, 2022

Souvlaki-Inspired Pork Skewers

In Greece, skewers of garlicky grilled meat called souvlaki are sold on street corners, in restaurants and at the beach. Inspired by the ubiquitous snack, our broiler-cooked iteration incorporates sweet-tart tomatoes, which blister and char in the ove

By Dimitri DemopolousOctober 18, 2023

Cauliflower Steaks with Pickled Peppers, Capers and Parmesan

To make a satisfying vegetarian main, we cut thick cauliflower “steaks” from the center section of the whole head; you’ll get two steaks per head. The ends that are left over tend to fall apart because they’re detached from the core, but don’t discard

By Calvin CoxOctober 13, 2021

Japanese-Style Chicken Meatballs

“Perfect recipe!” wrote one reader of our savory-sweet chicken meatballs, based on Japanese tsukune.

By Courtney HillJanuary 11, 2022

Creamy Four-Cheese Pasta (Pasta ai Quattro Formaggi)

Pasta ai quattro formaggi (pasta with four cheeses) is Italy’s creamier version of American mac and cheese.

By Rose HattabaughApril 25, 2023

Olive Oil Challah with Golden Raisins

Golden raisins soaked in orange juice complement the fruity, peppery notes of extra-virgin olive oil in his light, feathery bread.

By Erika BruceSeptember 12, 2024

Toasted Oat and Maple Scones

These hearty scones get deep, sweet flavor by coating rolled oats in maple syrup before toasting them, resulting in amplified nuttiness and crunch. Processing a portion of the oat mixture with the other dry ingredients distributes the flavor and textu

By Rose HattabaughSeptember 10, 2024

Salami and Cheese Stromboli

Stromboli is an Italian-American invention said to have been created in Philadelphia in the 1950s, but the dish takes its name from an island off the coast of Sicily. Like the calzone, it’s a sort of portable pizza—fillings are enclosed in dough and b

By Rose HattabaughSeptember 12, 2024

Chicken Fricase with Tomatoes, Potatoes and Carrots

It may have a French-sounding name, but this homey, hearty, tomato-forward chicken braise, made with sofrito as its base and with golden rum as part of the cooking liquid, is Caribbean in essence and flavor. We adapted San Juan chef Jose Santaella’s r

By Calvin CoxJune 11, 2021

Hot-Oil Brussels Sprouts with Ginger and Sesame

Earthy and subtly sweet with pleasant hints of bitterness, shredded raw Brussels sprouts make excellent slaw-style salads. We massage shredded sprouts with rice vinegar and soy sauce, tenderizing the sprouts and tempering their cabbage-y qualities. We

By Dimitri DemopolousOctober 17, 2023

Sesame and Oat Bars with Dates and Dried Apricots

In the U.K., oat bars such as these are known as “flapjacks.” They’re sturdy, chewy-crisp and unapologetically rich. We love the earthy, nutty, pleasantly resinous flavor of sesame and incorporate the ingredient two ways: toasted seeds dot the oat mix

By Hisham Ali HassanSeptember 12, 2024

Cheesy Mushroom-Thyme Fettuccine

Inspired by the fettuccine con funghi we tasted in Italy, we developed this recipe for creating a quick yet elegant dinner using supermarket ingredients. Be sure to use dried fettuccine or pappardelle made with egg; this type typically is sold coiled

By Courtney HillSeptember 11, 2024

Roasted Eggplant Salad with Tomatoes and Pine Nuts

This dish takes inspiration from salatit el-batinjan, a Middle Eastern tomato-eggplant salad. We tried a few techniques for cooking the eggplant. Broiling created a nice char but added little flavor. Roasting large chunks turned the salad slippery and

By Courtney HillAugust 16, 2024

Twice-Baked Potatoes with Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Gouda

Our riff on twice-baked potatoes is inspired by Irish colcannon and French pommes de terre braytoises, which flavors potatoes with Dijon and tangy crème fraîche. We opted for more readily available sour cream and chose Brussels sprouts instead of colc

By Hisham Ali HassanAugust 16, 2024

Marbled Chocolate-Tahini Cake

This loaf cake boasts a marbled interior featuring one of our favorite flavor combinations—nutty, savory tahini and rich dark chocolate. The cake’s striking design is made by alternating layers of chocolate-enriched batter and plain, lightly colored b

By Hisham Ali HassanAugust 12, 2024

Spinach and Ricotta Dumplings in Tomato Sauce (Palline al Verde)

At Trattoria Antico Falcone in Rome, palline al verde—which translates as “green balls”—were small dumpling-like orbs of ricotta, Parmesan and an abundance of spinach. Since the only binder was egg, their texture was delicate and creamy, and their fla

By Rose HattabaughApril 5, 2024

Sichuan Red-Braised Beef

This spicy, red-braised Sichuan beef has all of the spicy-salty-savory-umami flavors we love in Sichuan cooking.

By Diane UngerFebruary 6, 2024

Georgian Cheese Bread (Khachapuri)

We adore Georgia's staple snack—a bread boat made of a plush, yeasted dough that’s easy to tear and dip into an abundant filling of creamy cheese.

By Erika BruceFebruary 1, 2024