spinach and artichoke pan pizza

Over the pandemic, I quietly broke up with every pizza dough recipe I’ve shared to date. I know I have some nerve only telling you this now. The family wanted pizza for dinner weekly, and I was overdue for a homemade pizza reckoning. Why? Because after years of trying to get my home oven even half as hot as the ones at pizzerias that crank out gloriously blistered and glistening pies, and too often ending up with disappointing textures, I finally realized I was chasing the wrong pizza dream. Instead of fighting an uphill battle, I replaced my usual pizza dough with a no-knead focaccia-ish dough that bakes up beautifully in a regular oven, perfectly every single time.

Recipe

new york crumb cake

Hasn’t it always been too long since your last slice of profoundly perfect crumb cake? You know, the kind that’s a hefty square with at least as much height from big brown sugar and cinnamon crumbs as from a golden, buttery, sour cream-enriched and vanilla-scented cake? Yes, me too. I didn’t expect to be back here so soon, though. I truly believed I’d finished my Crumb Cake Degree in 2021 with the still-perfect-in-every-way Big Apple Crumb Cake. But sometimes, perfection is a process.

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turkey meatloaf for skeptics

Meatloaf has a PR problem. It took me a while to come around to it; I didn’t grow up eating it, and certainly nothing about the name — a loaf, a loaf of meat — convinced me I was missing a thing. But, slowly, I have tiptoed into the light, and now I get it. It’s not cute, but it’s objectively delicious. Imagine if we only ate things that were camera-ready — it would be a world without gravy, mushroom soup, and lopsided made-with-love frosted cakes. We absolutely must not stand for that.

Recipe

weeknight tomato soup

While this is not the Smitten Kitchen’s only tomato soup — there’s one with roasted summer tomatoes capped with an open-faced grilled cheese sandwich in the archives, and further back, a classic cream of tomato soup adapted from Cook’s Illustrated — neither are this: a seasonless tomato soup I can make on any rainy day, along with the nonnegotaible grilled cheese sandwiches, in under an hour. Both of the archived recipes have their charms; the first is great when tomatoes are at their peak. The second is excellent but fussy, more ideal for when you’ve got the time or patience to show off. But this has eclipsed both in the rotation for the last couple winters, and a few things make it perfect for us:

Recipe

chocolate raspberry pavlova stack

It’s been way too long since we had a showstopper of a dessert. When I look over the last four years of archives, it seems that practical, slightly boring and grownup things like salad and dinner have nudged out cooking purely for the purpose of generating and distributing decadent joy. The Celebration Cake category looks like the land that time forgot. And so on this very snowy/slushy day, and the day before Valentine’s, no less, I’d like to recommend: Not a weeknight dinner.

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crispy potatoes with mushrooms

I like to think that I made a smashing impression on my Russian in-laws when I met them — at the time, I didn’t eat meat or, more importantly, smoked fish. I remain staunch in my dislike of beets. And shortly after we got married I started talking about quitting my day job to… blog full time. But I took a liking to pickles immediately. I make a pretty solid eggplant caviar, because I learned from the best. I’ve since figured out Honey Cake and Russian Napoleon. And although the vegetarian options were limited at the time when we first met at the Russian Vodka Room, I quickly discovered my favorite Russian comfort food, fried potatoes and mushrooms (kartoshka s’gribami).

Recipe

french onion baked lentils and farro

This is clearly not a pasta bake, but it was supposed to be one. From November to December, I was pursued by a vision of an oozy, decadent french onion pasta bake — that is, the flavors of french onion soup applied to baked pasta with a bronzed and broiled gruyere topping. What was not to love? How could it not be delicious? But it was never right. I made it a few times and I never wanted to eat it. It was too rich and didn’t have enough to bite into, even by the intended standard of holiday indulgence. In the last round, I added cauliflower to it so it felt like more of a pasta-and-vegetable bake and I liked it even less (damp? somehow).

Recipe

rolled spinach omelet

A frequently asked question I get about *all of this* (waves hands in the general direction of the internet/air) is where I get my inspiration from. And almost without fail, I will say “not here.” No offense to this space we’ve created, but inspiration hits when I’m not pressed to find it, like when I’m on a bus or in a cab, looking out the window, or traveling — in this case, in DC a few months ago. I was there for the wedding of an old college friend (hi Aaron!) and another friend (hi different Aaron!) had a brunch at her house the next morning to celebrate and the unbelievable spread in her gorgeous house included not one but two rolled omelets and I was riveted. “WHAT IS THIS!” and she said, “This old thing? It’s so easy! I’ve been making it forever!” and I was like, “No. Tell me everything.”

Recipe

olive oil brownies

I did not intend to disappear for so long! In early October I was putting the finishing touches on a cake that manages to incorporate 2.5 pounds of apples (perfect for people like me who show no self-control nor willingness to learn from the previous season’s excess at orchards) when the world went to hell, our thoughts were not with food, and by the time I emerged it was November, a month I’ve spent mostly on a mini book tour when there is never enough time to come up for air. I need my sofa, some quiet, and a window with a view of the last bits of golden leaves clinging to trees to stare through, which brings me at last to today. Please know: Life gets busy, my schedule goes off the rails, but I will always come back to this space because I like it here, I like hanging out with you, and 17 years hasn’t changed this. The longer I’m away, the more delicious the backlog — it’s going to be a fantastic December.