31 Recipes to Make in October

In their book Wine Food, sommelier Dana Frank and recipe developer Andrea Slonecker pair funky, bright wines with flavorful, vegetable-forward dishes. They compare crostatas and galettes to pizza, making them the perfect weeknight dinner. This version layers fennel-spiced sausage, chile, delicata squash, and honey for a dinner that pairs well with a northern Italian Dolcetto.

This tasty salad from F&W Culinary Director at Large Justin Chapple nails the texture game, with chewy spinach, soft sunchokes, crunchy apples, and crumbly cheese.

In the fall, when squash and pumpkins are in their prime, make this silky pumpkin butter your go-to add-in. This preserve toes the line between sweet and savory: Try it on toast with cream cheese, in whipped cream, or melted into a mixture of sage and brown butter for an autumnal pasta sauce.

Creamy and tangy fromage blanc forms the backbone of this simple cabbage salad for a crunchy side dish or a palate-refreshing second course.

Light and fluffy, these eggs are gently seasoned and generously perfumed by fresh black truffles. For the perfect creamy, tender bite, pull the eggs off of the heat before they set; they will continue to cook after they leave the stove.

Rich, luxurious chestnut puree settles toward the bottom of each ramekin, creating a beautiful ombré effect in this Corsican riff on the French classic. Available online, it has a texture that's a cross between smooth almond butter and pastry filling.

Roasting the butternut with honey and a touch of salt intensifies the natural sweetness of the squash. Take time browning the onions; cooking them low and slow deepens the foundational flavor of this hearty soup.

Long Island cheese pumpkins have deep, vibrant orange flesh and a sweet, nutty flavor. They roast up smooth and creamy, making them the ideal squash for pies, purees, or for use as edible vessels for soups and curries. Here, rice is cooked to a risotto-like texture inside the pumpkin, along with red curry paste and coconut milk. Serve it as a hearty and warming main course or as a side dish for roast fish or pork.

Born in a food stall in 2005, Xi'an Famous Foods is now a small empire in New York serving Western Chinese dishes to legions of hungry fans. Jason Wang, who runs the business with his father, David Shi, shared this family recipe for Brussels sprouts with shrimp sauce. Here, briny, umami-rich dried shrimp and chicken broth cook down into a savory glaze, yielding a quick, deeply savory side dish.

A combination of chipotle-spiked béchamel and nutty Comté cheese melt together to create the rich, creamy center in this pressed "toastie" sandwich.

A mix of gluten-free rice flours and arrowroot delivers a crust that is flaky, buttery, and crisp. The floral sweetness from the honey and pears is nicely balanced by tangy cream cheese.

Ask your butcher for pork shoulder with an untrimmed fat cap (about 3/4 inch thick) for this recipe; the fat renders as the pork roasts, simultaneously turning crispy while basting the meat with its flavorful juices.

Forming these pretzels can seem tricky at first glance, but once you have the dough ropes in your hands, it flows like clockwork.

Smashing steamed potatoes creates craggy edges that soak up plenty of the aromatic sage-infused browned butter. Pick out similar-sized potatoes to ensure even cooking. Brian Marcy served this easy fall side dish at a harvest feast at Big Table Farm, a winery in Gaston, Oregon.

A quick sauté renders baby kale leaves perfectly tender, allowing them to almost melt into the buttermilk-enriched béchamel in chef and cookbook author Alexander Smalls' version of mac and cheese. For a smooth sauce, make sure all of the dairy is at room temperature.

Steak who? This bone-in pork chop riff on the classic French au poivre preparation is so good, we may never go back to beef.

Inspired by German celebratory harvest meals from centuries past, this comforting braised dish trades the traditional goose legs for easier-to-source duck. A beurre manié—a quick mash of softened butter and flour—is the key to thickening the delicious sauce in this braise. Buttery-crisp spaetzle and saucy mushrooms round out the dish.

Sweet, floral pears and jammy dried apricots lighten up the rich caramel notes of the dark rum in this fall-forward cocktail. Don't skip the crushed ice; it melts just enough without watering down the flavor.

Dinner doesn't get simpler or more elegant than this pan-roasted chicken. To make it, a whole chicken is cut into eight pieces, then roasted with grapes, garlic cloves, and sprigs of rosemary to yield crispy-skinned chicken in a schmaltzy pan sauce that begs for a crusty piece of bread. "I'm on record as being a slavering fan of Angie Mar's glam-bomb fare," says Senior Editor Kat Kinsman, who is a super-fan of Mar (a 2017 Food & Wine Best New Chef) and first tried this dish to-go. "But the take-out foil pan filled with roasted grapes, garlic, and rosemary; fatty drippings; and the sloppiest, cook's-treat parts of a chicken (my favorite) may be the best thing she ever served me."

"I love making this lentil soup when the weather begins to cool," says 2017 Food & Wine Best New Chef Nina Compton, chef-owner of New Orleans hot spot Compère Lapin. "The ham-hock aroma hangs around the kitchen beautifully; the smell alone makes you warmer. Adding a little ginger and lemongrass brightens the soup and reminds me of being back home in St. Lucia. Using local okra reminds me of my Louisiana home and adds a different texture."

A smoky, mildly-spicy romesco salsa seeps into the filling of charred cauliflower florets in this well-balanced vegetarian taco. Pine nuts add crunch and richness to each bite. "Before we opened our restaurant, my husband, Edgar, and I were newly self-employed and looking for ways to stay afloat," says Sara Mardanbigi, co-owner of Nixta Taqueria in Austin, a 2020 Food & Wine Best New Restaurant, where this recipe is now a signature offering. "We started hustling Airbnb Experiences at our house with cooking classes. One of the most popular items guests raved about was the romesco salsa. Once Nixta opened, we ran the cauliflower taco topped with romesco salsa as a seasonal option, and then, because it was in such high demand, we made it a menu staple. To this day, we'll get Airbnb guests coming by to see our taqueria baby in real life — and to try the cauliflower taco, of course!"

Coconut milk, tomatoes, and onions add natural sweetness that rounds out the fruity piquancy of Kashmiri chili powder and Thai chiles in this warmly-spiced egg curry. It's a South Indian dish that chef Margaret Pak of Thattu in Chicago, a 2020 Food & Wine Best New Restaurant first learned to make from her husband, who is originally from Kerala. "The first time I had egg curry, my boyfriend (now husband) made it for me. I was mesmerized that a simple egg dish could be so comforting and delicious," she says. For the brightest flavor, toast and grind whole spices in small batches just before adding to this curry or any dish. Curry leaf sprigs are tender and will continue to add flavor after cooking; feel free to leave them in for serving.

Gnocchi with pomodoro sauce is a simple yet incredibly satisfying combination. In this recipe, which chef Eric Lees used to serve at Spiaggia in Chicago, easy-to-make gnocchi made from russet potatoes, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and egg yolks are paired with a buttery tomato sauce laced with fresh basil. Lee uses a potato ricer to make the gnocchi, but if you don't have one, grate the cooled potatoes on the small holes of a box grater for a similar texture. "I absolutely love this dish and could eat it every day," says Rachael Lowe, former beverage director of Spiaggia and a 2016 Food & Wine Sommelier of the Year. To make a dinner of gnocchi with pomodoro sauce really special, Lowe suggests serving it with a good wine: "I love to drink the Piombaia Brunello di Montalcino 2015 with it; on the palate, the integrated-yet-present acidity balances out the racy tomato sauce, while the slightly grippy tannins cut through the richness of the gnocchi."

"My grandparents, who were from different parts of the world, colored my flavor map," says Jocelyn Law-Yone. The executive chef and co-owner of Thamee in Washington, D.C., a 2020 Food & Wine Best New Restaurant, came up with this meatless version of the classic Szechuan dish. "My paternal grandfather was from Yunnan, China, where tofu is enjoyed in countless ways by many different tribes. In Burma, where both my grandmothers were born, there's a counterpart of tofu called 'tohu' — it mimics the texture of tofu but tastes nuttier because it is made of besan flour." Known as "Chef JoJo" to her team, Law-Yone combined elements from her grandparents' cooking with her own twists to create this dish. "The additional layers of mushrooms and eggplants are mine but would have been familiar ingredients to all my grandparents."

"Lobster stew is one of the pillars of Maine cooking," according to chefs Mike Wiley and Andrew Taylor, of Eventide Oyster Co. in Portland. For this green curry–laced version, they took cues from tom kha, a coconut milk–based Thai soup, and enriched it with umami-heavy Golden Mountain sauce and hen-of-the-woods mushroom confit to create a richly-aromatic lobster stew. Sweet potato, curry paste, heavy cream, and coconut milk come together in a well-balanced broth that highlights the sweetness of lobster. Chefs Taylor and Wiley use sweet potato peels to thicken the broth; they lend a creamy, pleasantly-thick body to the stew.

Inspired by the classic Adonis cocktail of sherry and vermouth, this stiff drink from Kim Kyungmoon balances earthy, fermented Chungju with amaro. Chungju, a Korean alcoholic beverage brewed from rice, and Amaro Nonino, a liqueur from the region of Friuli in northern Italy, both offer a pleasantly musky, nutty flavor, while vermouth shines through with a burst of sweetness. For a source for artisanal Chungju from Korea's oldest brewery, visit Woorisoul.

As the child of Portuguese immigrants, 2011 Food & Wine Best New Chef George Mendes grew up eating all sorts of rice dishes at home. "There was simple tomato rice served with fried fish and then rabbit rice on special occasions and holidays," he says. This cozy chicken and rice recipe draws on those memories. In it, shredded rotisserie chicken, olives, sautéed onions and bell pepper, and crispy rendered soppressata are topped with cooked saffron rice and baked until the rice gets crispy on top to make a comforting dinner.

Mirliton tastes like a blend of cucumber and crisp zucchini. Paired with warming Creole seasoning and savory andouille sausage, the tender squash and sweet shrimp bring balancing freshness to this hearty casserole. "I love this dish for two reasons," says 2009 Food & Wine Best New Chef Kelly English, who shared this recipe. "First, the mirliton—or chayote, for those who don't speak Louisiana—is such a specific squash. You can't recreate it with anything else, and it just sings with seafood. Second, it is exactly where both of my parents' families come together in a casserole, at every table for almost every occasion." Chef English's original family recipe included more melted butter; drizzle with a little extra before baking, if desired.

Velvety carrot puree, tender pan-seared steaks, and braised cabbage come together in a beautifully composed dish topped with a fresh, punchy cilantro gremolata from 2019 Food & Wine Best New Chef Paxx Caraballo Moll of Jungle BaoBao in San Juan, Puerto Rico. A well-prepared mise en place is the key here: Cut and measure ahead of time to cook and plate with ease. "I love the flavor explosions and textures you get from this dish," says Moll. "Transforming a humble cut of meat, making it delicious, and seeing people's faces and all the great feedback make me proud of this dish. The sweetness of the carrots makes a great contrast with our gremolata, and every bite feels refreshing."

Dijon mustard and tangy fermented sauerkraut cut through the creamy richness of melted Fontina and mozzarella, while salty pistachios add a pleasant crunch to this Alsatian choucroute garnie–inspired pizza. "The choucroute pie was one of those ideas that felt obvious on arrival," says Steven Dilley, a 2017 Food & Wine Sommelier of the Year and owner of Bufalina in Austin. "The kitchen was sitting on some high-quality mortadella; it was fall, and my mind immediately went to Alsace. I love it because it has all those flavors that we love about the traditional dish—the rich mortadella and cheese offset by the assertive mustard and kraut—but it remains relatively balanced."

F&W Best New Chef Thessa Diadem's show-stopping sticky buns from L.A.'s All Day Baby are filled with ginger-studded sweet potato and spiced with cardamom and vanilla. Rolled into a buttery dough that bakes up light and pillowy, like giant cinnamon rolls, there is a little bit of sweet potato filling in every bite. Glazed with butterscotch and crowned with toasted marshmallow, these buns make an impressive addition to any brunch. Serve freshly baked and topped for best results.