European

The Thanksgiving table would not be complete without potatoes to absorb all that delicious gravy. Mashed potatoes are the most common, but sometimes you yearn for something with a bit more texture. That's where the Swiss rösti potato cake is ideal. Although you'll see some recipes for rösti that start with raw potatoes, it's more commonly done with whole cooked boiling potatoes that have been chilled at least eight hours, if not a day ahead. Once they are peeled and coarsely grated, you pack the shreds into a skillet and brown the cake on top of the stove. Instead of going through the angst of attempting to flip the cake over to brown the other side, just turn on the broiler and it browns easily in a fraction of the time.

This is exactly what it says: the essential ingredients of a traditional English breakfast (sausage, bacon, egg and mushrooms), cooked in a single pan, with the end result resembling something like a Spanish tortilla. It's an epic breakfast (have it late morning and you're unlikely to feel hungry again until evening) and, being cooked in a single pan, it won't create as much washing up as the conventional English breakfast.

Potatoes are, without doubt, my favorite vegetable. You can keep your squashes and artichokes, your fennel and snow peas, your kohlrabi and endive just as long as I have my potatoes. After all, according to A. A. Milne, "If a fellow really likes potatoes, he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow." But what's so good about potatoes? In a word: versatility. Once you think you know every way that you can cook a potato, another one comes along, and the Swiss rösti stretches the possibilities of the mighty tuber even further. I fell in love with its great blend of 'tato textures: crispy on the inside, creamy in the middle, it makes an ideal hungover breakfast with poached eggs on top. The best way to prepare the potatoes is to boil them in their skins the night before and place them, unpeeled, in an airtight container in the fridge, for use up to 24 hours later. But if you haven't been able to organize this, just leave them to cool down for at least 30 minutes before grating them. A word of warning: watch those shaky hands with wobbly poached eggs!

Bomboloni—small round Italian doughnuts—is almost as much fun to say as they are to eat. It's like a party in your mouth when you repeat the word, which you will be doing over and over between bites of these balloon-light spheres of the tenderest yeast dough. Bomboloni are the new hot item on restaurant menus these days, and you'll instantly understand why when you taste your first. It won't be your last, that's for sure, which is why we've accompanied them with three different sauces for dipping. Each is delightful on its own, but if you want to go all the way with all three, you'll find they play well together, too.

I love apples. I have this recurring dream where I leave the stress of the restaurant world behind and start a cider house, making exquisite hard cider. I start at sunrise and I finish in the mid-afternoon and retire to the farmhouse to cook a dinner for Mary and the girls. Apple brown betty is like a crisp made with bread crumbs. It's a wonderful dessert that is so simple and so rewarding in results. This is a good one for roping the kids into helping. Those apples aren’t going to peel themselves. Zabaglione is also known in France as sabayon. It is a custard-based dessert, cooked with a dessert wine. I stabilize mine with whipped cream and serve it cold, whereas in Italy and France you often see them served warm. Kind of like an eggnog in heaven.

This pesto if very simple, and its mild, herbaceous flavor makes it the ideal companion for just about any of the meatballs. While many pesto recipes call for pine nuts, we prefer the flavor (and lower price) of walnuts. Try finely chopping them and adding them right at the end for a nice, crunchy texture. We also love this as a healthy party dip, especially because it has no raw garlic—your guests will thank you too! Just cut up some carrots, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, and celery and you're ready to go. You can swap arugula for spinach if you prefer. Pesto freezes well and will keep for up to three months in the freezer.

Since everyone has his or her version of this sauce, we spent a lot of time getting this one right. No surprise, the best results came from using the best ingredients. When it comes to tomato sauce, using poor quality canned tomatoes can leave an acidic or tinny taste in your mouth. So while it is a bit more expensive, we like to use Pomi brand chopped tomatoes (you know, the ones that come in a box). The sauce starts with a careful "sweating" of onions (cooking them slowly, until translucent but not brown, to extract as much flavor as possible), and the flavor continues to build from a nice, long, low-heat simmering after the tomatoes are added.

Here they are—the top sellers at The Shop and sure to be a big hit at home. Most traditional meatball recipes call for Parmesan or pecorino cheese. While we're big fans of these stronger cheeses, we prefer ricotta. It's our secret weapon. The mild and creamy consistency of this fresh cheese gives the meatballs a unique light texture. Beef has a subtle flavor, and the ricotta is a great way to add fat and moisture to the recipe without the overpowering flavor of a sharper cheese. These are quick to prep, and baking rather than frying makes this a fast comfort food even during the busiest of weeks.

Using lightened-up coconut milk and Neufchâtel versus cream cheese trims 35 grams of fat. What's left? Rich, creamy goodness.

Bastoncini di Mozzarella Fritta
This great, very tasty appetizer could also be turned into a vegetarian meal. The Italian title says it's "Roman," and that is how it has been named on most Italian American menus, but mozzarella and anchovies are a well-known combination in southern Italy. There are mozzarella-and- anchovy fritters; and zucchini flowers are stuffed with mozzarella and anchovies, then fried. In this recipe, the mozzarella is fried between layers of bread, and then topped with a puckery sauce of lemon, capers, and anchovy.

Panino alla Primanti
Just down Smallman Street from our Lidia's restaurant, I have serious sandwich competition in Primanti's, a Pittsburgh institution. I am charmed by their incredibly oversized warm capicola sandwich stuffed with French fries and coleslaw. I am not sure where in the U.S.A. this tradition of stuffing a sandwich with French fries became Italian, but the sandwich was so tall that I could not open my mouth wide enough to get my first bite. Primanti's started as a sandwich pushcart, manned by Joe Primanti, in the Strip in the 1930s, selling sandwiches to truck drivers. One night, a trucker wanted to check if his load of frozen potatoes were good, so Joe Primanti cooked them up. Customers began asking for them, and to expedite the service they were added to the sandwich.

If you've never had a crumpet, imagine a thick, yeasty pancake the size of an English muffin, packed with craters. Now imagine spreading the surface lightly with butter and jam, which seep in through the craters, making the crumpet so sweet and delicious, you'll wish you could live your life over again to eat the crumpets you've missed until now. And even if you have had crumpets—the cello-wrapped kind you can buy at the supermarket—you don't know how good the dimpled cakes can be until you griddle some up from scratch.

"I love mint Oreos," says owner Mindy Segal. "This is my take on that combination." The smooth pots de crème are offset by a chocolate brittle that's so addictive and simple to make, we serve it on its own for a quick dessert fix.

Duck fat and potatoes are a match made in heaven in this rustic, savory galette (bacon fat makes a fine substitute).

To ensure that the grated potatoes bind together in this classic Swiss dish, squeeze as much liquid out of them as you can.

Egg whites vary in size, and the quantity of whites used in a meringue affects its texture. When making these cookies, it's best to use a liquid measuring cup to measure the whites. You'll want to chill the cookies overnight to get the perfect balance of crisp and chewy.

Don't worry—you don't need to buy a suitcaseful of whole ducks. Instead, use Moulard duck breasts. Once cured, slice them very thinly and serve with a salad or garnish with tart blueberry preserves or fig chutney.

Fork-tender and served in a spicy sauce, this is a perfect dish for those who've never cooked rabbit before. The tomato-based sauce is fantastic over everything from egg noodles to roasted potatoes or creamy polenta.

Fry up this German classic tonight. A squeeze of lemon juice over the top brightens up the thin, crispy cutlets.