Fusilli with Zucchini and Fonduta
Recipes styled and photographed by Kamran Siddiqi of Sophisticated Gourmet
The classic Piedmontese fonduta combines fontina cheese, milk, egg yolks and butter into a silky sauce that's usually topped with thin slices of white truffle. Traditionally, fonduta is served with toast or fried polenta. Our version (minus the truffles) coats fusilli and trips of zucchini for a divine rendition of macaroni and cheese.
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Warm Chocolate-Almond Sauce
Almond extract plus almond milk give this luscious chocolate sauce a terrific flavor.
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Baba Ghanouj
Sam Mogannam's mother used to puree all of the eggplant for her baba ghanouj in a food processor until silky-smooth because she didn't think her kids would like the chunkier version she grew up eating. 'But after a trip to visit my grandmother in Bethlehem, she decided to make it this way, and all of us were like, "Mom, don't ever do it another way again!'" he says.
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Beet-and-Asparagus Salad with Roasted Garlic Dressing
In the spring, beets are often sold at farmers' markets with their greens still attached. For this hearty salad, Ted Allen roasts the beets with garlic to make a creamy vinaigrette, then wilts the beet greens to toss with the asparagus salad. If you can't find beet greens, Swiss chard is an excellent substitute.
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Braised Pork with Ginger-Pickled Shishito Peppers
Braised pork over rice with a fried egg and pickled peppers may sound eclectic, but "it's a combination of two of my favorite Japanese dishes," Sang Yoon explains: donburi (meat and an egg with rice) and kakuni (slow-braised pork served with hot mustard).
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Almond Skordalia
Ana Sortun serves a number of riffs on skordalia, a Greek garlic sauce, but here she does a more traditional version with fluffy baking potatoes and plenty of olive oil. It's important to use a blender, not a food processor, to achieve the desired silky consistency. If the skordalia seems too thick, simply stir in a little water.
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Fregola with Minted Cauliflower
This terrific vegetarian entrée features fregola. Mourad Lahlou likes making the dish with seasonal heirloom tomatoes baked in salt; roasted grape tomatoes are a fine substitute.
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Fresh Green Curry Sauce
At home, Jean-Georges Vongerichten offers several curries at the same time because he likes the balance of sweet, spicy and herbal flavors.
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Golden Flounder with Caper-Almond Dressing
Flounder is an excellent stand-in for costly Dover sole. Mourad Lahlou tops it with a dressing of capers, almonds and raisins.
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L.A. Gas Station Tacos
Los Angeles's Kogi BBQ truck started the Korean-taco craze. Chef Roy Choi also loves the trashy ingredients (processed cheese! pork rinds!) sold at American gas stations.
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Meyer Lemon Mousse
This creamy, sweet and tangy mousse is fantastic on its own, but Stephanie Prida will also layer it with slices of pound cake and strawberries.
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Mixed Greens with Smoked Ham & Roasted Red Pepper Dressing
Roasting red peppers and lacing them with balsamic vinegar gives an appealing touch of sweetness to the dressing; it's a real winner. Try it on its own over grilled chicken or shellfish.
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Pan-Roasted Lamb Chops with Olive-Fig Relish
Seattle chef Tom Douglas hosts chef retreats and cook-a-thons at his country house in Washington state's Yakima Valley, a prime Syrah source. He sometimes makes this simple recipe, topping lamb chops with a red wine–soaked fig-and-olive relish to echo the flavors found in many Syrahs.
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Pickled Cucumber Relish
Nothing could be simpler than this sweet-sour pickle of cucumbers marinated with Thai chiles and shallots in a white-vinegar brine. It's an ideal accompaniment to coconut milk–based curries, fried fish cakes or grilled chicken.
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Potato Gnocchi
You can dress up perfect gnocchi in as many ways as you can sauce pasta, garnishing them with an unheated pesto sauce as the Ligurians do, or tossing them with foaming butter and slivered sage leaves as the Piedmontese do. You can mix them with a chunky tomato sauce or smother them in a wild boar ragù. Paula Wolfert finds that a little olive oil added to the dough makes for a silkier consistency, but it is optional.
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Red Pepper and Onion Tarts with Dates and Fried Cheese
Ana Sortun sometimes uses halloumi, a slightly sweet cow's milk cheese from Cyprus, instead of Greek Kasseri. Alternatively, you can sprinkle crumbled feta over the pita tarts. For round tarts, use a biscuit cutter to stamp out circles from the pitas, before spreading them with the onion-pepper mixture.
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Warm Chocolate Soufflé
Stephanie Prida sometimes underbakes this dessert to make the center especially gooey; it's remarkably good when left a little longer in the oven, too, particularly topped with a scoop of coffee ice cream. Serve the soufflé warm or even at room temperature.
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